The Belka Trilogy, Part 1: The Hand of Belka
by mrcmc888
Summary: The Belkan Empire fell when the last Saint died. That is known for certain, and none in the multiverse have been able to regain their power. Among those that failed was a man on a small unadministered world known as "Earth", who, with his back pinned against the wall in a battle he had no chance of winning, activated his final trump card. But what if he had succeeded?
1. Prologue

Foreword:

Hi everyone, after my last fic was rather poorly received (read: it was crap), I have taken some time off (read: drowned in sorrow) to perfect my writing skills. After watching all three Nanohas in a row, I thought that the stories had such a great scope and that more could be made of it, so I decided to write this bit of alternate-history faff.

The question at its core is: What if the Nazis not only won WWII but went on to defeat the Time-Space Administration Bureau? Obviously I took a few liberties with certain characters and their relationships in this setting, but I hope you will enjoy regardless.

And yes, before I get yelled at, this is not an OC-centric fic. All your favorite mahou shoujos are the main characters.

Now, this first part is a prologue, so it's going to be told from a bit different voice than the rest. Nanoha and Fate will be showing up next chapter. I promise. It's also a bit more than I usually write, so I'll forgive you if you don't want to read all the way through.

If you want to review, please be as honest as you can. I am still learning, and if I make mistakes I would like to know how to fix them.

Update schedule may be a little slow so please be patient.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **YEAR 124 P.I.**

 **SAINT'S CHAMBERS, ABOARD THE CAPITAL SHIP SANKTKRADEL**

 **MOBILE RESIDENCE OF THE FUHRER OF THE GROSSDEUTSCHES GALAXIENREICH**

 **ABOVE CAPITAL CITY OF CLANAGAN, ADMINISTRATED WORLD 1, MIDCHILDA**

The circular chamber was dark, nearly completely if not for the dim blue light shimmering from the bottom of the pool of water at its center. To each side, pillars and arches of orange marble, flecked with greens and roses and yellows that would gleam ever so faintly as the soft light caught them, rose until they were lost in the inky blackness. It was impossible to tell the actual size of the room; only the word from the Fuhrer could illuminate the chamber, and the Fuhrer preferred it to be dark. So the chamber stayed that way, the upper reaches expanding into infinity, and the pool sinking as deep as the ocean.

A seamless door, indistinguishable from the wall of the room, slid smoothly open with a faint hiss, letting enough light from the corridor behind seep in to illuminate a figure dressed in a strange way, shining with the gleam of polished metal. Over a skin-tight base layer was placed shining golden armor, two chestplates on which the black eagle of the Reich raised its war-cry, a large, smooth plate for the midsection, curved yet spacious shoulder guards, arm and upper leg protection, and freedom of movement at the hip, elbows, and knees, and a belt around the waist. It was the most powerful Barrier Jacket issued by the Mage Corps, thus fitting for an elite assigned to guard the highest authority over two hundred and five planets situated in as many dimensions.

The guard's face was masked by a sleek helmet; a line of glowing red indicated his eye level, or to be more precise where the video feed was taking its input. A faintly metallic puff was the rhythm of his breathing pattern. In his right hand, he carried a long spearlike device, silver on the shaft, cerulean on the point, but as soon as the guard had gained entry to the room, he placed the weapon on the floor and knelt, pressing two fingers to the side of his headgear. The helmet separated into segments, each folding back on each other into nothingness. It was still impossible to tell his appearance, as the shadows still hid any features that might have identified the guard.

The calm pool stirred, and the figure of a young woman rose from the waters, throwing drops around her area. As she stood, water ran off her sleek form, and the light caught the hair that flowed down her back, turning it into a river of molten gold. The guard remained motionless in his position, seemingly not even breathing. The girl stepped from the side of her bath and stood on the floor, her back to the guard.

She spoke one word, and it rang throughout the chamber. " _Licht_."

Immediately, the chamber bloomed into light, illuminating the girl and her guard. She strode toward the armored figure gracefully, hardly making a sound.

"Erio," she asked, "did you come to fetch me?"

Even though the knight was tall, he was much younger than his initial impression would suggest. In fact, he didn't appear much older than sixteen. Instead of the rugged countenance of a veteran, he still possessed the soft features of a boy. Red hair stuck out wildly from his head, and his blue eyes still shone; they, like him, were still virgin to the true horrors of war.

"Yes, Your Divinity," he replied, soft and subdued. "The High Council and Senate are gathered and waiting." He paused for a second, as if wondering how to be as inoffensive as possible. "Your Divinity, pardon me for my rudeness, but are you dressed?"

"That's a secret," she responded, almost teasingly. "You're free to stand up, Erio."

The guard came to his feet, still averting his gaze. With a single deft motion, the girl moved right in front of his field of vision, too fast for him to avoid a gaze. Erio Mondial immediately blushed scarlet before he realized with annoyance that she was wearing her uniform after all.

His aquamarine eyes met hers, one deep green, one brilliant crimson, and she smirked playfully. "Did I embarrass you?"

It was hard to believe that this person was the ruler of an empire that spanned galaxies, and a deity in the flesh. As far as her bodyguard was concerned, she hardly acted like one.

Erio huffed out. "Your Divinity, please don't be offended, but I really wish you wouldn't tease me like that."

She giggled. "What, you don't like it?" The girl looked his armor up and down, scanning her servant and frowning slightly. "You've still got your Barrier Jacket activated all the time? You know I told you to stop that. It drains your energy."

He replied as he had done many times before. "It is so I can keep Her Divinity safe if she is threatened."

She whirled around on the heel of her boot, her hair fanning out behind her. "You know I'm completely capable of defending myself. I guess I should get going, then. There's no point in keeping all those old men waiting. They might miss their afternoon naps." She tugged the hat she had been carrying in her hand over her long flaxen hair and strode toward the door, her boots clacking on the marble as she went.

"The Hegemon is waiting outside, Your Divinity," her knight announced, motioning in her direction. The door slid open smoothly to reveal an older, but still quite handsome, man with longer hair, dressed in the same light brown uniform, golden arabesque pattern on the collar, thigh-high black boots, and crimson armband around the right arm as she wore. Surrounding him were ten of the Heer in their dress greys, their Pucheron UN-23 assault rifles held at attention over their right shoulders, wearing the red epaulets that signified an Army Corps with the honor of being stationed on the Capital World of Midchilda; Vivio guessed they were from either the VI or the XI. The man in the lead bowed his head in salutation as she emerged and fell into step beside her, Erio trailing behind both with his spear held upright.

"I thought Your Divinity might never come out," he intoned, deeply and smoothly.

"You've known me for all my life and you still call me that? I'd like it if someone would use my actual name with me," the blonde girl pouted.

"Hm?" he replied. "It would be most indecent to address a deity by name."

"Well, what if the god wants you to?"

"Is that an order, Your Divinity?"

"Yes, yes it is," she sighed. "By the power vested in me by the gods and men as the supreme Fuhrer of the Grossdeutsches Galaxienreich, I command you, Jail Scaglietti, Hegemon of the Proletariat, to refer to me by my given name."

He chuckled, a low, deep rumble. "Very well. I guess I can't argue with that, Your Divi-...Vivio."

Vivio smiled slightly. "I can't believe it took you six years to finally call me that."

"And I can't believe it took you six years to order me to," the Hegemon replied. "You're always so upset about people being formal with you."

If Vivio had any parents, she didn't know anything about them, but Jail Scaglietti was the closest thing to a father that she had. Her earliest memory was six years ago, when she had found herself seated in an enormous chair with people bowing down all around her her. She remembered many things, but yet she did not know who she was or how she got there, and when she had tried to ask the people, they had called her "Your Divinity" and told her she was "destined to rule" and did not say any more. She wanted to tell them no, she was no queen, no princess, but she could not. When no one would tell her anything, Scaglietti was the one who took her in, who explained to her. She was the only daughter of the Saegebrecht family who descended from Olivie herself; in fact, she was a god in the flesh just like her ancestor. She had been selected to rule but had contracted a wasting disease and had to be placed into a coma; when she awoke she had obviously forgotten her identity. Over the years that followed, when she needed a question answered, when she needed to ask advice on policy or magic, when she just needed someone to talk to, he had always been there for her. He helped her understand her role in the Reich, the nation she ruled, and her responsibilities, until eventually she was strong enough to stand on her own. Even though she didn't see as much of him now as she did, she still was fond of him, because he was the only one to treat her like a person, not a god or a demon. Around him, she could show her true self, because he didn't put her on a pedestal like everyone else.

They continued down the pristine white corridors of the Sanktkradel, occasionally passing a secretary, nurse, or crew member, who would each bow their heads respectfully before moving along. Scaglietti jerked his head in the direction of the boy following the two. "What about him? Have you tried getting him to call you that?"

"Yes, several times, but he couldn't call me Vivio if I was holding him at gunpoint."

"Does he ever talk?" Scaglietti asked. "I don't think I've heard him say one word since he was assigned to the post."

"He talks to me," Vivio commented. "He's always going on about protect Her Divinity this, protect Her Divinity that. You probably scare him."

"I scare him?" the Hegemon repeated in mock astonishment.

"Probably. When you talk about science at the council meetings you sound like you're plotting world domination."

"What's wrong about being enthusiastic?"

"It makes General Gaiz think you're growing chimeras in the Laboratorium basement."

The Hegemon huffed audibly at the mention of the name, and Vivio recognized that she might have struck a nerve. "Well, anyway, Mondial's a good kid," said Scaglietti, quickly changing the subject. "Maybe a little uptight, but he's capable. He didn't get assigned to you for nothing."

If Erio appreciated the compliment, he did not show any signs of reaction from it. He continued walking behind the two with the same expression, seemingly looking like he wasn't listening at all.

"Are you sure that's not just Hegemon-speak for "I didn't have any other Elites to choose from, so I had to pick a fourteen-year-old kid?" Vivio commented sarcastically. "I'd like to see Tre try. She'd just stand in the corner fuming and say one word maybe every hour or so. And Otto would control-freak me."

"I don't know what's worse," Scaglietti laughed, "that you insulted all my hard work I put into creating those personalities or that I completely agree with you." He pushed his long hair back over his ears and continued. "You know, you're quite tactless for a supreme leader. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Hardly. This is, without a doubt, the first time you've brought it to my attention," she retorted sarcastically.

"Nove would pick a fight with you for what you said about her sisters, you know."

"Well, lucky she's down there and not up here."

Their walk through the halls of the starship had flown by, and the two officials and the guard arrived at a black door with a silver eagle behind crossed swords painted on it, which opened to a set of steps. A faint murmur of a crowd could be heard from an indeterminate location.

The Hegemon turned up the staircase. "This is where I leave you. Don't trip on your way up."

"You say that every time, but I've never done it once."

He disappeared through the door, turning to the right, and Erio followed behind him. Soon, Vivio was the only one left standing in the hall.

She took a deep breath. Even though she had gone through this many times, it was still a bit intimidating. But she had been through it; she would be fine. She entered the passage and climbed the stairs, the din growing louder the higher she went. Finally, a speck of light appeared ahead of her, growing brighter and brighter until she was out in the open again.

She was standing behind a podium on a stage, raised high above the surface of a room with large windows giving views of the surface of Midchilda below. Emblazoned on the front of her pulpit was an eagle clutching laurels and the Sign in its talons, and behind her were several large crimson banners with the Sign turning crookedly to the left in a circle of pristine white.

To the right of her stood the Hegemon, his calm expression replaced with one of almost frightening sternness. Behind him was his secretary, one of the Elites, although Vivio was quite surprised when she was told that last part upon their first meeting. Quattro's mousy brown hair and spectacles was hardly what one would expect a genetically perfect man-machine fusion to look like, even though she was a support model.

The Commander-in-Chief of the military, General Regius Gaiz, was to the immediate left of the podium; tall, husky, and ugly, he wore the same angry scowl she had always seen him with. Farther along in that direction was the Minister of Research, Precia Testarossa. Although she was an entrancing dark beauty, Vivio had come to suspect that something wasn't quite right with her. True, she was a brilliant scientist, but she was aloof to everyone, even her erstwhile colleague Scaglietti, and apart from High Council meetings it was near-impossible to know where she was and what she was doing.

Standing to the right of the Hegemon was the old Minister of the Interior, Aldegard Scrya. He had seen better days; his uniform hung off his old body and his face sagged. Just from the way that he spoke, Vivio had figured out that he wanted to resign as soon as possible, although she hadn't identified why he wanted to leave his position. If she wanted to use her authority she could force him to tell her his entire life story, but she was not one to pry into personal matters.

Below her, a sea of men and women in the brown uniforms of Reich government snapped to attention, seemingly as a singular entity.

Vivio brought the microphone down to her face level, and with a single stamp of her boot, the chamber grew silent. The playful personality she had demonstrated with the Hegemon and her knight was gone; rather, it was like it never existed in the first place. The Senate and the people of the Reich didn't see the cheerful Vivio Saegebrecht. No, to them Vivio did not exist. The woman who stood before them was the almighty Divine Fuhrer of the Grossdeutsches Galaxienreich, almost a figure of legend, a figure whom most citizens had never seen in person.

"Children of Belka," her voice echoed through the chamber. "It is by the grace of our glorious ancestors that we stand here today. It was through their piety, through their purity, that they, those brave soldiers of the empire of our forefathers' creation, brought a thousand worlds under their protection. It is they that we strive to emulate."

She paused, then continued as smoothly as she began. "Alas, Belka fell to greed and corruption and war, and so was no longer fit to rule. So they ceased to be, and in their absence the many worlds that they had left behind yearned for the order they brought. But hope was not lost, no, it still existed. On a planet known as Earth, the fire of old Belka still burned bright in the hearts of one brave group. And so it came to be, in the year 55 after the birth of the First Fuhrer, those who were known as 'Germans' were blessed with the Fleet that their ancestors had left for them, and toppled the corrupt regime that had spread in the wake of the fall of Belka, restoring the Empire to its former glory. And it, as you know, is called the Grossdeutsches Galaxienreich."

"But yet we must ask, why? Why were a small race of a small country on an insignificant planet blessed with the keys to the universe? Why did the Time-Space Administration Bureau, with their laws and their ships and their soldiers, not continue to lord over the dimensions as it had done so before?"

"It is the same reason why the mighty Roman legions were driven away from the banks of the Rhine and the trees of the Schwarzwald time and time again: it is the spirit of the Belkan blood. For the Bureau was corrupt; it only cared about making money for itself, not the government of the common people. Even though those called Germans knew not about magic or their glorious ancestors, they were far more worthy of inheriting the galaxy, for their mission was to restore the Empire, not to line their pockets."

The Fuhrer's voice began to raise into a shout. "Senators, that is why you stand before me today! You are the pillars that support this country; mine, yours, the worthy's, this country that our noble forebears gave their tears, their pain, their lives to create! You are the lights that guide the masses from the darkness that is corruption!"

The chamber responded as one, an echoing chant. "We will lead the way!"

"The strength of the Reich is the people!" Vivio cried, looking downwards at the crowd that stood before her. "The strength of the people is the Senate! The strength of the Senate is the Reich!"

"The strength of the Reich is the Fuhrer!"

The Senators were at a fever pitch now, almost as if they were hunting dogs closing in on a kill, and even though it always happened, Vivio could never avoid being swept up in the fervor.

"Glory to our fathers, the Belkan Empire!" she screamed. "Glory to Olivie, the Saint! Glory to the Reich!"

"Glory to the Reich!" the floor parroted. "Glory to the Reich! Glory to the Reich!"

The Fuhrer snapped her right arm outward from her side, stiffly pointing it, and two hundred arms audibly followed.

" _SIEG HEIL!_ "

Vivio Saegebrecht turned on her heel and strode down the staircase, the sounds of the frenzied crowd echoing behind her, growing fainter and fainter as she left. As soon as she opened the door into the bottom hallway, she saw that she was no longer alone; Erio waited with a group of ten soldiers in Mage Corps gray waited for her, to escort her as they usually did. The Hegemon was nowhere to be found; Vivio assumed he must have gone on ahead. She nodded to her guards, and they fell into step beside her, forming a protective shell. In time they came to a sliding door protected by a hand scanner, and the officers left them. The Fuhrer placed her right hand on the sensor and spoke.

"Vivio Saegebrecht. Age 18, Fuhrer, Identification 01MC-2736-1894."

"Verified," the door spoke with a robotic, monotonous voice. "Please identify all others in your party."

Her bodyguard came forward and placed his hand on the scanner as well. "Independent Mage Corps Captain Erio Mondial, age 14. Special certification. Identification 01MC-2820-9362."

"Verified," the door replied. "Releasing locks." It opened smoothly into a conference room, in which sat a large, simple metal chair veined with pulses of what looked like electrical energy, running in every direction with brilliant white light. This was the most holy relic perhaps in all the worlds the Reich controlled. It was the throne in which the Saint sat when she conquered the last traitor kingdoms at Ventus, quite fitting for one of her descendants.

Beneath the throne was a circular conference table, made of glass with the eagle of the Reich carved into it and set in gold. Around it sat the Hegemon, Ministers Testarossa and Scrya, General Gaiz, and another figure, a young blonde woman in a habit, the Saint's cross dangling from her neck: Carim Gracia, Knight Premier of the Saint Church, the religion that worshipped Vivio's distant ancestor and was powerful enough to field its own armies. Together these five people made up the High Council, the most powerful governing body in the Reich, but they all answered to the Fuhrer herself.

Vivio strode around the silent council and took her seat in the chair. As soon as she pressed the palms of her hands on the flat, wide arms and closed her eyes, she could feel powerful energy flowing out of her body and into the throne, like a receptacle for her power. She couldn't really describe magic to anyone if they asked, but it was always one of the most intense feelings she had ever experienced in her life.

She opened her eyes. "Now. Shall we begin?"

Most of the meeting was boring, the usual stuff they discussed every time: taxes and military spending and agricultural yield and laws being signed. Even though Vivio had the power to reject any bill or statistic not to her liking, she hardly even debated ninety percent of what was brought up at the meetings. The others were the experts; she was not. They knew what they were doing; laws and proposals were safe in their hands, not hers. If she foolishly vetoed something she didn't like, it could harm the kingdom she worked so hard to protect, and that was not an option. So Vivio mostly kept out of High Council meetings, only speaking to approve resolutions and nothing else.

This time, however, something caught her interest.

The meeting was about close to wrapping up when the Knight Premier stood from her chair, cutting a proper figure. "I have something I wish to report, if it is okay with Her Divinity. It is of...paramount importance."

Knight Gracia with urgent news was a rare occurrence for anything. Vivio nodded. "Go on."

Carim flicked her hand upwards, and a circle of white parchment scrolls manifested in midair, revolving around the bride of the Church.

"As you all know," Carim explained as the papers circled her, "the Device dating from the days of the ancients given to each Knight Premier, which I currently hold, grants the gift of prophecy. However, it is an incomplete skill. It was meant to be combined with the internal Device of a Sankt Kaiser; unfortunately, I have no such power. As a result, I rarely receive any glimpses of the future, and when I do they are often incomplete."

The officials around the table had fallen silent as they turned their attention to the standing Knight. Hegemon Scaglietti in particular was concentrating with some interest.

"However, two days ago I received a rare complete, and rather worrying, message," Carim stated, reaching into the circle of dancing scrolls to pluck one from the ring, which immediately darkened with inscribed runes.

Vivio was far more excited to hear what Knight Premier Gracia was talking about than she really should have been, even if it was bad news.

The Knight Premier took a deep breath, then intoned, in a deep, breathy chant:

" _Þegar börnin hafa skilað í faðm móður sinni  
_ _Átján dómar skulu sett voru átján blöð skulu falla  
_ _Hún sem skref allan heim mun vera kunnugt um menn og illt  
_ _Eldurinn mun brenna þar er ekkert loft  
_ _Eldingar mun slá þar eru engin ský  
_ _Hesturinn rukkar þegar það er engin reiðmaður  
_ _Hermaður fellur þegar það er ekki sár  
_ _Þar höggormurinn blunda, drekinn, munu upp vakna._ "

The Hegemon wasn't nervous, but something about the poem in perfect Old Belkan that Knight Premier Gracia had delivered worried him, Vivio could tell. She was starting to be a bit concerned as well; it was a bad sign when Scaglietti showed even any signs of uncertainty.

"The dragon...surely this doesn't mean Yothoth..." Minister Scrya wheezed.

"She's lying! Every bit of that was a lie!" General Gaiz roared, rising quickly, his chair falling behind him. "Surely, _mein Führer_ , you cannot believe this religious fanatic and her tales of hellfire and brimstone!"

"And why would she have any reason to lie, General?" Minister Testarossa interrupted, casting her knowing gaze upon her military counterpart. Regius Gaiz's face twisted in anger, but realizing that he had no sane retorts, he sat back down, glowering.

Scaglietti was mumbling to himself. "the Dragon...it only makes sense...the Dragon...The Dragon! It only makes sense!"

Vivio joined the rest of the room in turning their attention to the Hegemon.

"Of course! It all makes sense now," Scaglietti nervously laughed. "Because Sigrid is come again, then of course Yothoth would return. But our Sigrid is a human. What will happen then? Will the great Dragon swallow the world again? No, because first he must take revenge. He was sealed by Sigrid so many years ago, but he believed he took her with him. Now that his captivity is broken, if he finds out she survives, he will seek her to fulfill his purpose. And what better way is there to do that than in the guise of one of the race that his enemy begat? No, Yothoth will not be a disaster or a monster. Yothoth will be a human. There will be another like our Fuhrer."

Vivio's eyes widened. _Another like me?_ Why were they talking about something like that? It didn't make sense, what all this talk about dragons had to do with her. Who was this Sigrid person?

"What are you suggesting we do, Scaglietti?" General Gaiz barked. "Do we hunt it down? Do we kill it?"

"I am suggesting nothing of the sort, General," the Hegemon replied, spreading his arms wide. "We, humanity, stand on the precipice of godhood. This person, this prophesied one, will have great power, and that would be the power to advance the evolution of our species or destroy us completely. It is our choice."

"What do you mean?" Gaiz growled, still on edge.

"Isn't it simple?" the Hegemon smiled. "We just have to tame this dragon."

The very second he said those words, something surged through Vivio, washing over her in waves of white-hot intensity. When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in her throne aboard the ship. Instead, she was in a space whose only inhabitant seemed to be nothing but fog. It was impossible to tell where anything ended; everything melted away into the distance. The only color was pure white.

What is this place? Where am I?

She walked forward with footsteps that made no noise, looking and looking for a way out of this place, but there was nothing but emptiness. She looked around, turning in every direction-

-There was something. A flash of color in the mists. She turned in that direction. Something other than her was moving. There had to be someone else.

Vivio took off in the direction of the color she had seen, running and running, but she saw nothing. Finally, exhausted, she dropped to her knees, panting with her mouth open.

 _It's no good. What am I doing here?_

When she looked up slowly, the first thing that she saw was the sky blue doe-eyes of a girl standing in front of her.

 _Who is she? Is she an angel?_

The girl was naked, with her hair the color of a burning flame draped across her shoulders; her skin was pale and smooth. It seemed like she had a brilliant aura surrounding her. She didn't know who this person was, but Vivio couldn't deny that the girl who stood before her was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen in her life.

She stood up slowly, making as little noise as possible, and walked closer with soft footsteps, reaching slowly out with her right hand.

The strange girl looked at her with mournful eyes and bounded away into the mists.

Vivio wanted to grab her, to cry out "Wait!", but she couldn't say a single word.

She blinked. As the haze covering her sight cleared, she saw that she was back in the conference room; the Hegemon was standing over her, shaking her on the shoulder. "Your Divinity! Please wake up!"

"I'm fine, Hegemon Scaglietti," she replied. "Thank you for your concern, but I assure you I am completely okay."

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

She was lying, something had happened, something she didn't know herself.

 _Who was that girl?_

* * *

Author's Notes:

So for a little bit of background on this AU, and how the Nazis came to conquer the Nanohaverse. Have you ever heard of Die Glocke? If not, search for it on Wikipedia. It was a German experimental weapon that was said to be powerful enough to turn the tide of the war; some said it was a device to summon aliens, others said it was like an antimatter bomb, others said it was a miniature black hole or something of the sort. In short, no one knew exactly what its purpose was, but in my AU it was a dimensional portal, and on its first test the officers who activated it were transported into a pocket dimension which an ancient Belkan attack fleet (about 4x the power of the TSAB and 20x the power of 1940s Earth) had been trapped in. So that's how we got here, and you'll find out more about it in later chapters.

The poem is in (I hope not too badly mangled) Icelandic, to give old Belka that "Norse conqueror" feel. Here's a translation:

When the children have returned to the bosom of their mother  
The eighteen judgements shall be passed, the eighteen blades shall fall  
She who strides across the world will be known to men and to evil  
The fire will burn where there is no air  
The lightning will strike where there are no clouds  
The horse will charge when there is no rider  
The soldier will fall when there is no wound  
Where the serpent slumbers, the dragon shall awake.

Before you ask, Sigrid and Yothoth are Old Belkan gods (my own invention), and that's all I'll say on the matter for now as there will be spoilers if I tell you any more.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 1

**20/6/124 PI, 15:58:42**

 **ABOARD DKM OETTINGEN**

 **AIRSPACE OF ADMINISTRATED WORLD #1 MIDCHILDA**

 **IN TRANSIT FROM ADMINISTRATED WORLD #0 EARTH**

The peaceful cerulean sky above the Capital World rippled as would a still pond, then split as the shape of a Kriegsmarine frigate materialized. Against the light of the morning sun, the wear and tear that two decades of traveling the sea of dimensions had taken could be clearly seen; the steel hull shone through the light gray paint in swathes and splotches, and black burns from shells and beams launched far in the past decorated the vessel.

The ship was a third-generation built on the same base model as the first Fleet of the Galaxienreich, but it could not replicate the destructive capabilities of its ancient predecessors. It could, however, neutralize an army of 5,000 in under a minute with its advanced orbital bombardment; provided, of course, there was a sufficiently powerful mage on board. Nevertheless, it did not come to the Capital world to fight, or even to bring news of war. Rather, instead of being the specter of destruction as the attack ships always were, today the Oettingen would be the sign of growth, of rebirth.

Within thirty seconds of the spacecraft's entry into the atmosphere over the Capital, two fully automated assault aircraft had eased alongside the frigate to flank it, as was standard procedure for any craft conducting dimensional travel to a Reich-administrated world. In the cockpit of the Oettingen, the telecom clicked on, and the face of a female officer appeared.

"This is Midchilda Airspace Control. Identify yourself, please."

The pilot of the frigate tapped a button on his communicator, which sprang to light with a green flash. "DKM _Oettingen_ , home port Supools, call sign Schwalbe-9. En route from Earth to Midchilda, carrying recruits for the mage program. Requesting permission to land at Von Richthofen Airfield."

"I read. Schwalbe-9, you are cleared for landing on block 33A. Watch for outbound traffic."

As the frigate extended its landing gear and hovered into position over its assigned area, the ground beneath it split in two and caved in upon itself to reveal a dock deep enough to hold a dimensional craft, the small dots of people scattered all throughout the glimmering metal interior. The Oettingen engaged its vertical thrusters, pulsing them and setting down gently in the dock with a hiss. As soon as the ship sat down with a hiss, mechanics and maintenance workers poured in from every side, running every which way along the many catwalks that touched the Kriegsmarine ship's exterior.

On the walkway circling the ship's nose, a black-clad woman with the double-Sig runes of an Interdictory Corps officer on her shoulder paced, stamping one of her high heels every now and then. It would be her third year guiding the recruits into orientation, and as she very well knew, the higher-ups wouldn't be pleased if the class from Earth was to come late to the first assembly.

The door to the side of the cockpit opened, and white-uniformed rookie mages tumbled out. It was likely that none of them had ever touched a Device in their life, or actually fought a battle, or seen their squadmates killed in front of them, the officer thought. Those recruits had no idea what was going to happen to them; they were like vegetables. You would chop them up into tiny bits and burn them, but in the end they would be better than what you had at first. That was the point of military training, especially for those born with such a special gift as these youngsters. And even if the woman couldn't break them all personally, she knew of someone who would be more than capable, and more than happy to.

The recruits were milling around, talking to each other or looking around happily, but a nervous tension hung over the group. Another black-uniformed person, this one a man, sidled up next to her.

"What do we have here, Erika?" he asked, affably.

The woman did not turn her gaze from the crowd. "Recruits, Lieutenant, 116 in total, 76 men, 40 women. Mainly from the colonies, but I believe there are a few Earth-born, and a couple Honoraries in the group."

He whistled, soft and slow. "They look so...eager. Alicia's going to have a fun time with these ones."

"I don't think the Captain would appreciate you calling her that, Roth."

"That's why I said it here. I'm no match for that prodigy."

"Attention!" the woman cried, and instantly the crowd of trainees quieted and stood rigid.

She took a breath and began her spiel, the same one she performed upon meeting every new class. "Welcome, cadets. My name is Lieutenant Erika Wolfenburg, and this is Lieutenant Patrick Roth. Today you enter the Wehrmacht Basic Combat Mage Training Course. It was not an easy road here; all of you were selected because you possess innate powers that are available to only one-twentieth of the human population. It will not be an easy road from here. If you wish to continue, you will be subjected to the most intense training of your life. Some may call it torture. However, we are the ones that make the rules. If you wish to drop out now, please do so."

Silence hung in the air for a minute, but it seemed like an hour. Of course no one moved. If any of the candidates chose to leave, it would be a horrible badge of shame upon themselves and their families.

Lieutenant Wolfenburg cast a glance over the recruits, whose cheerfulness had mostly evaporated. Their faces, while handsome and fitting for purebloods, were ashen.

There was one in the very back, the lieutenant noticed, who looked different from the others. She was holding on to the shoulders of the girl in front of her, nearly quivering in fear. _It's one of the Honoraries_ , Wolfenburg noted. _Of course it's an Honorary_. She scoffed internally and reminded herself to have a word with the member of the Mage Corps who oversaw recruitment for the Japanese Special Administrative Zone. Those who weren't pureblooded Belkans were weak; this was yet another thing that proved it. This one was clearly not cut out to have anything to do with the military.

"Roth," she gestured at her counterpart, flicking her finger in the direction of the terrified rookie.

"Can you get me the info on the Honorary, back row?"

The man scratched his chin before pulling out a thin device from his pocket, tapping the screen and aiming it at the direction of the Honorary girl.

"Number 63. Born in Uminari City, Japan Special Administrative Zone, youngest of three. Her name's-" He gave a grunt of surprise. "Wait, don't tell me that's Shiro's kid!"

 _There's no way_.

"I would not be inclined to believe that. But if it is true, that's quite an interesting change between generations. Either way, she had better produce results."

"This way!" she motioned with her hand, and the cadets fell into step behind the two officers.

* * *

Until two months ago, Nanoha Takamachi had believed herself to be completely average girl. It was, in fact, extraordinary at how mediocre she was. She was of average intelligence, average athletic talent, average social skills, average everything. Her parents ran a kendo dojo, but even though her older siblings were prodigies, she was only average. Even her citizenship was squarely in the middle: she wasn't a pureblood, but she wasn't an Inhuman either. She was an honorary Belkan, in-between both.

Until two months ago, she envisioned herself going to college with her friends, meeting a nice boy, and living out the rest of her life as a Coordinator just like her father. The military was the furthest thing from her mind.

On her eighteenth birthday, the soldiers in their imposing uniforms came to her city to set up the "aptitude test" which every citizen was required to take upon reaching the age of majority. Even though her older sister and brother had failed it, when she placed her hand on the scanner inside the tent, it read "pass", to her shock.

She wanted no part of the military, but she had no choice. She had been drafted.

On the day of her departure, when the ship had come to take her away, her family had come to see her off: her father who wore the soft stress lines of a Coordinator's job on his face but could still wield a sword as well as any samurai five hundred years ago, her mother who made the best oyakodon in the world and always listened to Nanoha when she needed to talk, no matter how stupid the subject was, her brother who always woke up at six in the morning to go running and hated people but still took care of her whenever she was sick, her sister who would attract every boy in the city but cared about none of them, who gave her dating advice; they had all come.

She remembered her mother crying, and her sister waving forlornly, and as the whistle for entry blew her father took her aside and whispered in her ear something he had told her hundreds of times before:

 _Nanoha, I may be the wisest, Kyoya may be the strongest, Miyuki may be the quickest, but you have something that they don't. You have the biggest heart of them all. You'll be someone great. I promise._

 _What did he mean by that?_

That was how Nanoha Takamachi ended up here, being jostled in this crowd of eager recruits taller and stronger than her, looking desperately around for the one face she knew.

"Suzu-chan?" she cried out, her voice barely audible above the din of boots on metal and the clanks and clings of the repair docks to each side. "Where are you? Suzu-chan?"

She felt a tug on the side of her jacket and looked behind her to see the face of Suzuka Tsukimura, her best friend. For the first time that day, Nanoha smiled. At least there was someone she knew in this strange place.

"I was looking for you all over!" Suzuka sighed, putting her hands behind her head in exasperation. "I kept having to ask these guys, 'hey, have you seen a girl about my size, reddish hair in twintails, blue eyes' and they all ignored me! I told you we should have stuck together on the plane!"

"Well," Nanoha smiled, "maybe they couldn't understand you."

"I don't need you to tell me I'm bad at Standard," Suzuka huffed. "That language stuff is up your alley anyway. Do you have any idea where we're going?"

"It's the opening assembly. I think we find our dorms afterwards."

"We can't even get our bags now? Man, what a pain..."

The group had emerged to the surface in the meantime; Nanoha squinted as the sun suddenly beat down on her. The recruits had lined up in a courtyard surrounded by tall buildings and what she guessed were barracks.

"Hey, what's this about?" Suzuka whispered from next to her.

"I don't really know..." Nanoha shrugged back.

Suddenly, the group of cadets began to erupt with shouts and cheers. Nanoha looked up, and stared in astonishment as a large ship passed overhead.

"That's the Sanktkradel!" Suzuka exclaimed. "It's where the Fuhrer lives!"

Suddenly, something flashed in the corner of Nanoha's eye, and when she turned to look her eyes widened.

A girl who looked almost the same age as her, who had silky blonde hair almost down to her waist tied with two black ribbons, was standing in front of the trainees, piercing them with a gaze the color of fire. She wore a sleek black bodysuit, the different sections of the material barely visible except for the silver double-Sigs on each shoulder. In her right hand she carried a staff with the head resembling an axe, a yellow crystal shining in the center of the dull black metal.

Even though she might have been even smaller than Nanoha, this girl was far more imposing. It was as if she radiated intimidation.

The crowd quickly fell silent, waiting for the strange girl to do something.

"Welcome," the blonde said, her voice clear and reverberating with authority. "I am Alicia Testarossa, a Captain in the Interdictory Corps, and this (she pointed to the Device she carried) is Bardiche. As some of you may know- those who bothered to study before coming here, that is- I will be your chief instructor for as long as you remain in this program."

She strode down the line, inspecting the recruits, several of whom gulped or flinched when she passed by. Nanoha stood with her eyes toward the ground, trying to attract as little attention as possible, and made a mental note never to get on this Testarossa person's bad side.

"Don't get me wrong, however," Captain Testarossa announced as she continued to inspect the recruits. "I'm an Interdictor officer, and a Special at that. That means I have a lot better to do than waste my time explaining the most complex art of war in the universe to a bunch of kids who have only ever seen it on television. So let me warn you...I won't go easy on you."

She stopped, and Nanoha realized with a sinking feeling that the officer was standing directly in front of her. _Oh no, am I going to get singled out on my first day here?_

Nanoha desperately tried to keep her whole body from shivering like a plucked guitar string, but thankfully Captain Testarossa didn't seem to notice. The officer had returned to her original position. "Now. Any questions?"

A young man a little ways to the left of Nanoha raised his hand tentatively. "Um, sir, is it true that you're the daughter of Minis-"

In what seemed like the time it took Nanoha to blink, Testarossa had closed the distance between the rookie and herself, drawn back the palm of her right hand, and knocked the poor cadet to the ground with said palm. A line of grimaces, winces, and eye aversions flowed down the line of trainees like a current through a wire.

At that point, Nanoha was officially scared of her new commanding officer.

She couldn't see her, but from the way she was spitting her words, Nanoha could tell Testarossa was incensed. "There is no such thing as family here. There is no such thing as connections. There is only you and me, and I obtained this position solely because of myself. If I hear anyone else mention such things as number 30, I will see to it they are immediately expelled."

"Now," she continued in a lighter tone, "you are dismissed. If you'll check your telecom, you'll find the locations of your bags and your dormitory. Lights out is at 0000, do not be late."

It took the trainees a minute or so to comprehend that they had been released, but once the shock of their commanding officer's introduction had worn off on them, they immediately began to disperse in every direction. Beside Nanoha, her best friend huffed in exasperation.

"Tch, who does she think she is, trying to act all high and mighty and scare us like that? She's just a kid too!"

Her friend was prone to anger easily, Nanoha knew all too well. In fact, she wasn't sure that if she herself didn't exist, Suzuka would be some delinquent picking fights with anyone and everyone. Nonetheless, for all her flaws, she was just as close to the girl's heart as any member of her family.

"Now, now, Suzu-chan, I don't think she means anything personal by it. I heard that all officers do that," she replied, trying to calm her friend down as quickly as possible.

"Yeah, right. I bet that Tetsurosa or whatever's just like those bullies back home. You know, the ones that always picked on you for some reason, and kept coming no matter how many times I beat them up."

 _I never really asked her to do that_ , Nanoha thought. _That's the difference between her and me. I've never liked it when people fight._

"Well, it's going to take a lot more than that to get to me. Come on, let's go get our bags. Do you have the map?" Suzuka giggled nervously, "I kinda left my telecom in my bag, ehehe..."

"Sure," Nanoha mumbled, reaching into one of her breast pockets. In front of the two girls, a holographic projection appeared, hovering, displaying a map of the area. Nanoha perused it. That was odd. The baggage drop wasn't indicated anywhere.

"Do you see it, Suzu-chan?" she asked, gesturing towards the screen.

Her friend frowned. "No, I don't. That was real helpful of our great commander. I don't see anyone around we could ask, either...they've all split."

"We should go look for someone. There's got to be someone that could help us."

The two girls set off from the lawn, in the direction of one of the identical buildings. However, they saw no one for a while, and Nanoha was starting to lose hope.

What if we don't find it at all? I don't want to be laughed at on my first day here!

At last, as they turned one of the corners, they spotted a figure ahead of them, carrying one of the standard-issued duffel bags at the shoulder. Her face brightened. Suzuka immediately took off toward the person, and although Nanoha tried to keep up, she quickly fell behind, panting. She was never the athletic sort of girl.

"Uh, you there!" Suzuka cried, reaching out toward the person as she screeched to a stop. "Where'd you get your stuff? We can't find it!"

The person turned, and Nanoha could see that it was a rather handsome boy in the same uniform the Honoraries wore. For some reason, she had a good feeling about him. He looked oddly benevolent.

"Don't talk to me, you Moonface trash," he spat back at them.

Nanoha's confidence shattered once again.

As the two girls stood in shock at what their fellow cadet had just said to them, he had already disappeared through the buildings.

The silence was broken by a loud "Shit!" and the bang of Suzuka kicking the building to the side. "People like him piss me off!" she growled.

 _Why does he hate us so much?_ Nanoha wondered, still uncertain how someone who at first impression had looked so kind could speak such cruelty.

The two girls, more depressed than usual, continued their search, hardly speaking. While at first they had thought the others were just somewhere else, they now began to suspect they were being intentionally avoided.

As they turned a corner, Nanoha moaned, "I think we've already been through here..."

Suddenly, her friend held up her hand, signaling her to stop. "Nanoha. There's someone following us."

"Huh?" Nanoha responded. "Why would anyone-"

"Don't know, don't care," Suzuka snapped. "Hey, you!" she called, turning around. "Whoever you are that's been hiding, get out here now!"

With a frightened squeak, a girl peaked her head around the corner, than slowly tiptoed out. It was easy to tell that she was a pureblood; even though she hung her head flaxen hair fell to her shoulders. She looked up slowly, and seeing the two Honorary girls standing in front of her, squeaked in surprise again and jumped back a couple steps. "S-sorry...I...not speak...language..."

"We're fine at Standard, you know," Suzuka retorted acidly. "Anyway, what's your problem? What's a _pureblood_ like you doing talking to Honorary _scum_ like us?" she continued, shoving her face into the girl's.

"Hey, Suzu-chan!" Nanoha interjected. "Sorry about her," she said to the girl. "She can be like that with people she doesn't know. Don't mind it."

"Okay...it was my fault anyway..." the girl replied, looking downcast again.

"My name's Nanoha Takamachi," Nanoha friendly continued, pointing to herself, "and this is Suzuka Tsukimura. We're from a place called Japan on Earth. It's okay if you're surprised. You probably don't see a lot of people like us often."

"I'm Alice...Alice Bannings..." the girl said softly. "I'm from here on Midchilda..."

"We're looking for the baggage unload. Have you found it? It wasn't on the map," Nanoha asked.

"Well, no...I'm actually looking for it too..." Alice replied.

 _She's nicer than I expected. I wonder if there are more like her?_

"Hey, you guys said you're from Japan, right? Is it really true that you eat cats- sorry!" Alice exclaimed, immediately trailing off as Suzuka gave her a death glare.

"It's okay, we get that a lot. You've never been there, have you? Come on, let's go look together. I can tell you all about Japan while we look." Although Suzuka huffed loudly beside them, the shy girl joined Nanoha and her friend.

However, time had begun to creep up on them, and they were still no closer to finding the spot where their belongings had been placed. After many turns through the labyrinthine buildings, they were back on the central green, and the sun was beginning to set.

Suzuka sighed. "Come on, let's just give it up. I bet it'll be better to not have our bags than to break curfew."

"You're right..." Nanoha agreed. "I'm really hungry, too..."

"Our quarters are that way-"

Behind Nanoha, something soft hit the ground with a whump.

When she turned around, her bag was at her feet, and her commanding officer was in front of her, carrying two more duffels on her shoulders and boring holes through her with a steely gaze. Even though there was nothing out of the ordinary, Nanoha felt like she was being looked at naked in the middle of the winter.

"These are yours, I presume?" Testarossa said icily. "After two hours, it appears that these are the only ones that were not claimed. And they belong to Number 18-" she tossed a bag in the direction of the Midchildan, who cast her head down, "Alice Bannings. Number 54, Suzuka Tsukimura. And Number 63-"

Captain Alicia Testarossa was in front of Nanoha. It didn't matter that she was staring up at the girl; Nanoha still felt that there was a sword pointed at her throat regardless, just like every kendo match her sister when they were younger, which would inevitably end with Nanoha on the ground. The officer looked even younger than Nanoha. It didn't matter. The girl's gaze was powerful.

"Nanoha Takamachi."

"Why wasn't this on the map?" Suzuka asked, exasperated. "We spent all this time looking for them!"

"It was not on the map because I didn't want it there. This was a simple test," their commanding officer replied, "and you three failed. No, you gave up. If you do the same thing on the battlefield, you will be killed. It's a fact. A mage uses his mind. A mage does not quit. Those who don't understand that are not fit to serve the Reich."

She turned away. "I'll be keeping an eye on all of you."

Thankfully, the rest of the night passed without any sort of incident; it was quite easy for the three to find their sleeping quarters, and there was still time for them to eat. Although no one talked to them the rest of the night, Nanoha was more worried about what Captain Testarossa had said to them.

 _Those who don't understand that are not fit to serve the Reich_.

 _I knew it. I guess she's right, I really am not cut out for this._

* * *

 **21/6/124, 00:00**

The lights had cut out in their dormitory, but Nanoha was still awake even though it was impossible to see her hand in front of her face.

She thought about the day, about this strange new world she had been thrown into, this world she had to get used to.

Somehow all the excitement seemed so far away.

 _Dad, Mom, Kyo-chan, Mi-chan, I know you're worried about me._

 _But I think I'm going to be just fine._

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Sorry about the delay! It's finals period so it's hard finding time to write! Fortunately I have a break ahead so I should be able to get more done.

The White Devil! Well, more like the White Devil-to be. If she hadn't been exposed to the Jewel Seeds at age 9, I think this is what Nanoha would be more like, more timid than self-confident. And of course living on an Earth that's been half scorched and the other half used as slave plantations has taken its toll as well. I hope you don't mind me taking too many liberties with the characters. Obviously this setting changes a few but I hope I didn't change them too much.

I know a few people have commented that it's unrealistic for the Nazis to reverse-engineer Belkan technology. Actually, they didn't reverse engineer anything. They found Belkan technology that they could use and used it to conquer the multiverse. Any military technology they make now is an imperfect replica of their discoveries.

Questions about the author: Yes, I am male. I think the Nanoha fanfic community is kind of odd in that it's mainly guys writing, but I like it. I'm not so weird here.

What's with this Alicia girl? Is she our beloved Feito-chan? Does Alicia live? You'll have to wait and find out!

Until next time,

mrcmc888

 **MAHOU SHOUJO LYRICAL NANOHA IS THE PROPERTY OF MASAKI TSUZUKI/SEVEN ARCS, NBCUNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN, AND GENEON (US) (DEFUNCT). I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING RELATED TO THE SERIES.**


	3. Chapter 2

**20/6/124 PI, 19:46:02**

 **LOCATION CLASSIFIED AS PER ORDERS OF UMK FIELD MARSHAL UNO**

Names were beautiful things. They were beautiful things she did not have.

All her sisters chose names when they were born, flourishing names that captured each of their essence in a single word. They all wanted her to select one for herself as well, but she could think of nothing that fit her. So she was only Fourteen, the youngest of her sisters.

It was those same sisters that sat to either side of her on the hard metal benches in the cold, dim interior of the helicopter that buffeted and turned. Fourteen didn't like helicopters.

It was hard to tell due to the lack of light, but in front were twelve crimson standby lights, blinking in metronomic sequence, of a series of assault drones, their rounded forms becoming apparent the further her sight adjusted to the darkness. They were so cold. They were so distant. Fourteen didn't like the drones.

As she sat in silence, a gentle hand touched the top of her head, saying, "Don't worry, we've done this before. It'll be fine."

That was her big sister Dreize's voice. She was calm and kind, everything that Fourteen was not. Whenever she felt worried, she would think about her sister and her apprehension would evaporate away. She truly didn't know what she would do if Dreize didn't exist.

Fourteen liked Dreize.

Over the steady hum of the rotor blades, a deep, staticky voice sounded over the telecom of the helicopter, words that Fourteen had heard many times: "One-three-one actual, target point in range. Prepare for drop."

Slowly, the door to the hold of the aircraft opened, the wind and light rushed in with a mighty roar, and once again Fourteen's squad mates were visible. The nearest to the door was Otto, who acted as command central for their missions; he was one of only two males in the Independent Mage Corps, and Fourteen had never met the other.

Next to her sat Nove, whose hair was cut short and as red as her temper. She seemed to like no one; quick to anger, she was always looking for fights, even among members of her own elite squadron. Nonetheless, she was an indispensable part of the Elites' strategy, and even though Fourteen did not care for her, she had been saved from danger more than once by Nove's incredible reaction speed.

Dreize was sitting next to her, the locks of deep blue-violet that she wore being wrapped around her face by the wind of one thousand feet, but she still wore the same expression of benevolence as usual.

The drones sprang to life, dropping into the evening sky, and the Elites stood one by one, the setting sun turning the gold of their Barrier Jackets to fire. Fourteen followed her sisters in activating their helmets, watching as her field of vision was covered by a tactical overlay.

The ramp had now lowered below the plane of the cargo hold's floor, and the Elite squadron gathered at the edge of the descent into the atmosphere below.

A male voice, soft but clear, rang in her head. The telepath system seemed to be working. _I'll stay above the field of combat. The drones will drop before you and strafe the site. They're likely hiding in the large building; it should flush them out of cover._

 _I'll take point_ , a sharper female voice replied. That had to be Nove.

 _I'll be in the middle_. That was Dreize. _Fourteen, you'll be the rear guard. Watch if the enemy has mages among them, you're the first line of defense for a pincer or flank._

Fourteen replied with silence.

The first of the Elites stepped off the ramp and jumped. _Combat Cyborg number eight, Otto. Heading out._

The second spun on her release and arced down in a swan dive, plummeting. _Combat Cyborg number nine, Nove. Heading out._

It was only her and her big sister now. Then Fourteen was alone.

 _Combat Cyborg number thirteen, Dreize. Heading out._

It was her turn.

 _Combat Cyborg number fourteen, heading out._

She stepped forward, and the ground disappeared from under her feet. Twisting in midair, she angled herself downward and plummeted silently. The altitude gauge at the top of her display dropped as the blips representing her squad mates grew larger in her field of vision. Within a minute, she was in position in between her sisters. She was safe here.

On the display, a red dot grew larger and larger. As they got closer, Otto pulled up from his reverse position. _The drones have the site in view. Two large buildings in a forest clearing, looks heavily fortified. Magical residue detected, possible mages in vicinity. I'll pull back and commence bombardment, although I'm not sure how much the drones can do. They may have heavy artillery...be careful._

With a whoosh, the eighth cyborg shot upwards until he was well out of view of the other three. Directly in front of the cyborgs, a pillar of dust and flame, and then another, and another, shot up. The drones had begun their job.

"Mach Caliber," Fourteen asked in a tone barely above a whisper, "enemy status."

A tinny, artificial voice rang back in her ears. _Under one hundred heat signatures detected. Estimated time of neutralization: four minutes thirty-one seconds. Threat level is C._

Almost as soon as the Device was finished with its calculations, a bolt of energy whizzed by Fourteen's ear from behind. As she turned around to address the situation, something red flashed in the corner of her eye, and she turned just in time to see Nove, her helmet gone, punching a dark blue-clad man with a drawn Device in the stomach so powerfully that he fell into the tree canopy below.

Surrounding them were at least fifty charging mages in a tight circle. Beside her, Dreize let out a gasp.

"They knew which direction we would approach from? That's impossible!"

"We've lost the element of surprise!" Nove screamed. "Take them all out! Jet Edge, ESS!"

The double-laced metal cuff around the ninth cyborg's right wrist began to spin rapidly and glow green, before a thin blade thrust its way out just above Nove's hand.

The enemies were charging now. Fourteen could faintly hear Dreize call out "Blitz Caliber, strike!", and every now and then she would catch a flash of Nove slicing the throat of one of the enemy mages or Dreize strangling an opponent, but there were too many of them focusing their attacks on Fourteen. They yelled, they fired their energy darts, and it hurt, but Fourteen was only focused on one thing.

They were in between her and her sister, and if she killed them, then she could get to Dreize.

Without so much as a sound, she poured mana into the revolver-headed glove that formed her Device, pulled her fist back and swung it at the nearest enemy, piercing him through the right side of the ribcage and exiting through his back. She could immediately feel him stiffen, and with a swing of her arm he dropped towards the ground below.

Another one came rushing at her, and with a magic-infused uppercut she detached the head from his body, sending both into the distance.

The enemies were backing off now. She had scared them.

They were turning to flee. But she wouldn't let them get away.

In a single, deft move, she had positioned herself in front of the fleeing foes and snapped the necks of three of them before they had time to react.

There were only five of them left. She delivered a right hook to a woman mage. Now there were four. Now there were three, two, now there was just one left.

The last one, a younger man, held his Device in front of him, shaking in terror. He wasn't running, and if Fourteen finished all of them off, then Dreize would be safe.

Screaming in desperation, he launched a blast of magic at the cyborg, and with a thrust of her palm she deflected it. He was done, Fourteen knew. He would no longer be a threat.

Even as she slowly advanced on the enemy, she could sense a sort of desperation surrounding him.

"Stay back!" he cried, holding his Device as if it was a shield that could protect him. "Stay back! You...You aren't human!"

Wordlessly, Fourteen reached out and clasped his head, then charged Mach Caliber again and crumpled his skull in her grip.

All her foes were gone. She wondered if Dreize would tell her she had done a good job. She wondered if Dreize was okay. Dreize was all that mattered.

As she thought those words, the voice of her sister entered her mind.

 _Where are you? We're done over here. One was captured and is being interrogated._

She was relieved. So long as Dreize survived, she was happy. Given the choice between her own death and that of her older sister, she would always choose the former.

Upon rendezvous with her squad-mates, she found Dreize grasping a young woman by the neck, while Nove held the blade on her wrist to the enemy mage's temple.

"Now, spill it," the red-headed cyborg spat. "Or I put this through your eye and pull it out. As slowly as I can."

"Who is your commander?" Dreize asked, not a hint of warmth in her voice. "How did you obtain this base of operations? What is your motive?"

"I'm...not telling..." the woman choked out.

"What was that?" Nove barked, placing the blade millimeters away from the enemy mage's eye.

It must have taken an incredible amount of resolve, or perhaps insanity, to reply as the woman did.

"You think I'd tell anything to you?" she screamed. "You're nothing but the government's lapdogs!"

Nove grimaced in anger and readied to strike, but the woman suddenly slumped in Dreize's grasp, a red stain blossoming across her chest. As her head dropped to the side, it revealed a man in the dress of their enemy, heavily wounded and missing an arm, but holding a smoking pistol.

Dreize and Nove both began to move, but he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Fourteen could only watch as it all unfolded.

"To think one of my 'victims' was playing possum all along..." Nove growled.

"They knew we were going to try an interrogation. They also knew our battle plan. Terrorist revolutionaries on a frontier world like this shouldn't even know we exist. It makes no sense," Dreize muttered. "Did someone leak our information?"

Fourteen didn't hear Nove's reply. She couldn't.

A cloud of fire had erupted in front of her, nearly blinding in its intensity. As soon as she heard the explosion, Fourteen knew it was an antiaircraft shell.

In the clearing below, where the non-magical enemy was gathered, she caught site of a howitzer. It was about to fire again.

They had tried to hurt Dreize. She wouldn't allow it.

The gun was aimed straight at her. She could see the enemy pouring out of cover, pointing their weapons toward her.

"Mach Caliber," she whispered, "ESS maximum."

 _ESS will last forty-five seconds_ , the artificial voice told her. She paid it no mind.

Her golden armor began to shine unnaturally, laced with veins of lurid green, as another revolving glove circled around her left wrist, and elongated protrusions, resembling ice skates, shaped themselves from the soles of her boots. She waved her hand in front of her, and magic surged from her body and hung in the shape of a glittering crystal road in the air.

She pushed off, her boots erupting in neon sparks as she flew down the path. She was within firing range of their bullets, but each of them stopped and reflected off her protective barrier before they could even graze her.

The antiaircraft gun fired again.

On the ground, the expressions on the faces of the revolutionaries changed from relief to terror as they saw the shape of the Elite emerge from the smoke cloud, traveling down the roadway she had created at almost the speed of sound.

Her fist, her device, slammed into the antiaircraft gun.

It was too late for the revolutionaries to even cry out before the resulting magical pulse of the impact of Mach Caliber with the howitzer incinerated every human being, save for the caster, in a half-mile radius.

 _Combat Cyborg number fourteen, mission completed._

That was the last thing she remembered before she found herself laying on the ground, exactly in the middle of the crater she had created.

* * *

 **20:06:56**

Apart from the area of dead foliage and scorched ground where the terrorist base used to be, nothing about the surroundings of the Elites suggested that nearly three hundred traitors had met their fates less than an hour ago. Of course, that was why the Combat Cyborgs were created, and why they were deployed in secrecy: to neutralize any threats to the stability of the Reich in an efficient and inconspicuous manner.

It was odd, Dreize noted, that in the forest where the Elites had set down for extrapolation the breeze still blew and the birds still sang as though it was any other day.

The last member of her squad landed softly in front of her. "How did it go?" Otto asked, showing some concern.

"Mission accomplished," Dreize replied, "but," she gestured to an unconscious girl sprawled across the dead leaves and sparse grass with the same armor and the same bluish-purple hair as herself, "not as well as I'd like."

"All the drones were destroyed, too," Otto muttered, looking slightly pensive. "I didn't expect there would be that many mages in their forces. I thought we registered all of them."

 _It's more worrying to me that there would be so many of them willing to turn traitor._

"The helicopter will be here in fifteen minutes. I guess I'd better check on the others then. Where's Nove?"

"Sulking, fiddling with her Device. As usual."

"I guess I'll go cheer her up then," Otto replied, turning into the forest north of Dreize and her sister. "Although I doubt it would work."

Dreize deactivated Blitz Caliber and her Barrier Jacket, sighed heavily and sat down, brushing her long hair away from her shoulders. It wasn't the place of an Elite, especially a melee-type like her, to ask questions. She was created to fight, not to exposit, but the more missions she commanded the less she understood, especially about who the enemy was and why they chose to oppose the Reich.

In the pocket of her uniform, the small orange gem that was Blitz Hammer's deactivated form pulsed. She knew very well who was requesting telecom and what it would be about; all Mage Corps missions, even those of the most powerful independent squadron, followed specific protocol. She tapped the Device and a holographic screen showing the Hegemon of the Proletariat appeared before her.

"Good evening, Commander," the cyborg began curtly.

"Same to you. I assume you succeeded?" Scaglietti replied. "How was it?"

"Roughly a hundred normals and fifty or so mages. They seemed to be very well-prepared for our appearance, even though that was, to the best of my knowledge, the first encounter we have had with that specific terrorist group."

The Hegemon rubbed his chin in thought. "You're suggesting they had classified intel?"

"I'm not sure if it was a leak or not," Dreize replied, "but something worries me. This is the fourth callout of this sort we've had in this month, and all of them, including this one, have been nearly identical. For conceivably independent revolutionary groups operating on different planets, why would they all choose now to make their move? And why would they fight, dress, and fortify their bases so similarly? I know I said something like this last time as well. How can High Council be so convinced it's only coincidental?"

"There's no substantial evidence that it's not," Scaglietti sighed, "although I suppose I understand what you're saying. The problem is, with High Council you'll have to give photographic evidence, audio evidence, interrogatory evidence, and bring back a prisoner alive before they'll even consider what you're saying. We make the rules. It doesn't mean we like each other. Gaiz is convinced that anything you report is some part of some nefarious plan of mine, and I don't know the Knight Premier and Minister Scrya think too highly of you either."

"But what about the Fuhrer? Perhaps you could inform her of this?" Dreize exposited.

"That would be grounds for Gaiz to consider it a coup if he finds out, and he's likely to easily sway the Bundestag to his side. My political position's not an easy one, I regret to say." He paused, then chuckled slightly. "High Council's already in an uproar about what happened today. Trying to do what you suggested would be like dousing hot coals with kerosene. The Knight Premier had a full prophecy for the first time in I don't know how many years, and of course it was one hundred percent doom and gloom, about the Dragon rising and stuff like that. I have to say I'm not one to believe in predestination, or conspiracies. However, there's still the possibility that by some chance, the old myths are true. It's quite interesting, isn't it?"

"I see." _Not that it makes me happy, though. I still want answers that it doesn't look like I'll have anytime soon._

"How are the others?"

"Nove and Otto are unharmed. The drones are destroyed."

The Hegemon's voice softened. "What about Fourteen?"

"She's unconscious," Dreize admitted. For some reason, the Elites' commander seemed to be quite attached to the fourteenth cyborg. Dreize always felt ashamed whenever she reported injury to her squadmates; she had been entrusted by the Hegemon to protect them, and if she couldn't do that, she wasn't suitable to lead her sisters into battle. However, it was doubly so when Fourteen was hurt, as was the current case.

"She went full ESS for too long and overloaded her Linker Core," Dreize muttered. "It was my own fault. I failed to notice that the nonmagical enemies possessed an antiaircraft weapon. I allowed myself to be hit, and it angered Fourteen. If I'd only attempted to fight it off, she wouldn't have gone berserk like that. She ended up completely destroying the base, and taking out a good deal of the ecosystem, before we could interrogate anyone. All of their mages were either killed or committed suicide, as well. We have no more leads than we started with."

"I'll get Uno on repairs. Fourteen's certainly attached to you, isn't she?"

"She's more than attached. She's only grown more and more obsessed since the time we were born. I'm honestly beginning to worry that something may have gone wrong in her creation process. She rarely, if ever, speaks to anyone except for me or pays attention to anyone but me, and she depends on me so much. I'm very concerned that if I should die, it might push her over the edge for good...I saw what she did when she thought I had been killed today. I don't want that to happen again."

"I know I've told you this before," the Hegemon replied, clasping his hands underneath his chin, "so feel free to disregard this if you like. Fourteen and yourself were created in a different manner than all of the Combat Cyborgs I produced. At that time, I didn't have the funding or the knowledge to integrate the cybernetic components from the fetal stage. So you and Fourteen were grown as normal humans from the same genetic donor, and the implants were placed in you before you were removed from stasis. Unfortunately, I can't say with certainty that you're wrong and that the process didn't cause irreparable damage to her brain. I hope that was not the case, though."

 _As do I._

At that point, a thought came into Dreize's mind. "Commander, I've been meaning to ask this for a while, but mine and Fourteen's devices are functionally identical, and their names are nearly so as well. Did they possibly come from our donor?"

The Hegemon paused for an unnaturally long time, then replied, "No. I created them for both of you myself."

"Oh, I see. It was just a foolish thought I had. Pay it no mind."

The trees around the cyborgs began to whip in the wind as the chopping roar of rotors filled the air. It appeared the transport was here. The Hegemon signed off with a salute, and Dreize returned it before closing her telecom.

Despite having talked to a member of High Council for a fair amount of time, she still understood only a bit more than when she began.

And as she entered the helicopter along with her sisters, carrying Fourteen over her shoulders, she wondered if she would be doomed to live the rest of her days just like that: not being able to think, only carry out orders.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

I'm back! Sorry about the delay, especially since I promised I would write a bit during this winter break but more than a week has passed from the start of the break to this upload. So apologies for the delay. I might get another chapter done, but no promises, especially since I'm very drained. (recovery from midterms, family parties, Christmas hecticness, staying up late to complete the Nico event on School Idol Festival, etc.)

So we finally get to see what the Elites (Combat Cyborgs) can do...yeowch. I wonder who "Fourteen" and "Dreize" may be...

Anyway, I know I had some issues with saying this, but the Reich is not intended to be sympathetic. The characters (mainly Nanoha) are. This chapter introduces some moral conflict, and hopefully it'll get the wheels turning in the reader's head.

ESS is this AU's version of cartridges. It works a little differently. Instead of overloading the Device's mana, it forms another pseudo-Linker Core and connects it to the user's Core, enabling the user to have greater magical output. However, it can only be used for a specific amount of time.

Anyway, introduced another important character! The next chapter will be Nanoha-centric...I can't tell you any details but something big is going to go down! Stay tuned!

 **MAHOU SHOUJO LYRICAL NANOHA IS THE COPYRIGHT OF MASAKI TSUZUKI, SEVEN ARCS, A-1 PICTURES, AND ANIPLEX. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING RELATED TO THE ORIGINAL SERIES OR ANY SEQUELS AND SPINOFFS.**


	4. Chapter 3

**21/6/124 PI, 04:29:55**

 **BARRACKS A-24, DEUTSCHES REICHSHEER ROMMEL BASE**

 **CLANAGAN, ADMINISTRATED WORLD #1, MIDCHILDA**

Normally, the sunlight came in through Nanoha Takamachi's window gradually. Today, however, it was if someone had turned a switch to pour light into her room. That was odd. And why was her alarm clock so loud? It was beeping much more incessantly than normal...it almost sounded like there was a fire truck or something parked next to her.

 _Oh, shut up._ Nanoha rolled over, attempting to smother her ears with her comforter, but when she reached for it, she felt no fluffy down of any sort. _Huh? Where did my blankets go?_

Someone was banging on the side of her bed, or her wall, or something. "Nanoha! Wake up!" Why was her mom doing that? She wanted to sleep, but the voice and the noises kept growing. Finally, a hand shook her roughly on the shoulder. That was it. She was going to come undone at whoever was making the mistake of attempting to wake her up.

She sat up and immediately rammed her head into the bottom of the bunk above her.

As Nanoha cradled the welt forming on the crest of her forehead, trying desperately not to cry, it became readily apparent that the reason that it seemed like someone had turned the lights on was probably because someone had, in fact, turned the lights on.

Pain could bring someone to their senses pretty fast.

The siren continued to wail, and all around her Nanoha could hear the sounds of footsteps thudding on the concrete floors of the barracks. Why were they all in such a rush?

"Nanoha!"

Suzuka had peeked upside down from her bunk, only to find her friend in a rather pitiful state.

"Suzu-chan, what's going on? Why is everyone-"

"What are you doing? We've gotta get dressed in fifteen minutes...you're the last one up! Hurry! That lady is gonna kill us if we're late!"

Nanoha didn't remember how she managed to draw the curtain on her bed, change into her uniform, and even manage to look passable in that amount of time. Maybe it was instinct. Regardless, she managed to join her friends, old and new, in the crowd of trainees that had gathered at the door to the barracks.

"What are we doing?" she asked, still confused why the group had been summoned so quickly. "I don't even know what time it is..." Her eyelids were starting to droop again, so she shook her head rather visibly.

"I don't know what's so important," Suzuka muttered back, in a barely audible rasp. "It's four-thirty in the morning. The siren came on, telling us to get dressed and meet at the door in thirty minutes, but didn't say anything else. I tried to wake you up, but you were out cold. I bet a bomb wouldn't have woken you up."

Nanoha was sure the internal groan she gave would not be the last. _4:30..._

Unlike the two Honoraries, the Belkan by Suzuka looked like she had swallowed a few cupfuls of caffeine. Alice was one of the few people in the entire group who was actually talking audibly. "Hey, wonder what we're doing, Na-, I mean, number six-, I mean, Takamachi-san...that is what they say in your country, right?"

Talking to people in the morning was not Nanoha's forte. Apparently, it wasn't Suzuka's, either, because neither of the Japanese said anything and Alice's smile turned a bit downcast.

"Hey, what's that in your pocket?" No sooner had the words left Alice's mouth then she immediately found herself in the grip of another Tsukimura Death Stare. But she had noticed something; there was the slightest fringe of something white that Suzuka immediately pushed into her breast pocket when the pureblood had asked her, and Nanoha felt strangely compelled to know what it was also, even if it wasn't really anything she should be concerned with.

She didn't get the chance to ask, however, because the door opened and their commanding officer stood in the way, flanked on either side by her lieutenants. After looking them over for a few seconds, she began, "It appears all of you have passed your first test. Had there been anyone who failed to be ready by the deadline, I would have expelled them on the spot. Above anything, a mage is a soldier, and a soldier must be able to follow orders at any time. Luckily, it looks like you can at least manage that much."

The speech was innocent enough. However, the way Captain Testarossa eyed her trainees dripped disdain; it was as she was shocked that they could perform a task as simple as getting out of bed.

"This way. Fall in," the officer gestured, and two lines formed behind her as they traipsed down the bare metal corridors, the ceilings and floors paneled in grates. Every now and then there might be a door, but they were all closed, and it was impossible to tell where they were headed. Something about the architecture made Nanoha nervous. It wasn't like at home, where there were tatami and bamboo paper that would let some of the sun shine through and water and grass that you could see from the windows. Here, it was all artificial, bleak and stark.

After twisting and turning for what seemed like several minutes, the hallway opened up and the trainees spread out into an enormous gray room, lined with windows and fringed by a walkway. It was two stories; Nanoha was sure it was the size of her entire house, and the arched ceiling made it appear even larger. In consistent intervals, cylindrical structures grew from the floor, each capped with two prongs, resembling a fork. Each machine softly whirred, filling the room with an audible buzzing.

Their commander stepped to the front. "Today is your first lesson. These behind me-" she gestured in an arc to the contents of the room, "-are training Devices."

She stepped to one of the machines and placed her hand on an inscribed circle just below the prongs, which lit with a red glow. Almost as soon as she did so, a golden orb materialized in between the forks. "That was the most basic of magic, a Projection, which you will attempt today. I assure you it will be...more difficult than you think." She removed her hand from the sensor and the orb dissipated, bringing a few oohs and ahhs from the trainees.

"That impressed you?" Testarossa commented contemptuously. "I suppose all of you are the type that feel the need to gasp in surprise whenever the sun rises in the morning or a car has four wheels, am I correct?"

The trainees immediately fell silent again, except for what appeared to be a faint snicker from someone in the crowd.

"Did you find that statement funny, number sixteen?" the commander snapped, pushing her way through the crowd to confront a stocky boy. "Did you?"

She was extremely close to the poor trainee's face, and he clearly looked like he was about to run for it. "Um, no, I didn't, sir!" he exclaimed desperately.

"If you don't tell me the truth, number sixteen, you're expelled."

"Umm...well...I thought it was clever wordplay, sir..."

"I see," Testarossa lowered her head from the other's face. "Leave. Now."

"Huh?"

"I said leave. You found something I said amusing, so I'll take you through training in a way I find amusing. Go."

The boy slinked towards the door, as downcast as humanly possible.

"Spread out, one to a device," Testarossa commanded, turning her attention back to the trainees. Although there were many cadets, the Devices outnumbered them, and Nanoha found herself surrounded on every side by empty machines. All the other students had chosen their machines around the perimeter of the room, but she was in the center, alone.

"We're going to get to do magic! Actual magic! I can't believe it!"

"Geez, were you always this annoying?"

Well, she wasn't alone anymore.

Suzuka and Alice had joined her, one on either side, but they were still on an island, and Nanoha could hear the other students behind her whispering, and with a sinking feeling she realized their subject was most likely the three girls.

Their instructor stamped on the floor, and the room became quiet once again. "Now, we will begin," she announced. "Place your hand on the sensor and visualize the image of a perfect sphere, positioned in between the amplifiers on the Device, in your mind. Concentrate on that. Block out all other noises and thoughts. Your mind is completely blank except for that image."

The students placed their hands onto the sensors, as Testarossa had said. Nanoha wasn't very good with concentration, but she tried her best to focus. _A sphere. A round sphere, in between the prongs. A sphere._ She pictured it in her mind, but nothing was happening on the Device in front of her.

Throughout the room, gasps and expressions of surprise rang out as orbs began to glow on the Devices of the other students.

"Wow!"

"This is so cool!"

"I've got one!"

Beside her, Nanoha heard Alice squeak in surprise. "I'm doing it! I'm doing it!"

Looking to the other side, she saw that Suzuka had wordlessly manifested her magic sphere as well, a dark blue ball wavering slightly in midair. But there was nothing of the sort on her own Device.

Breathing out and closing her eyes, she pictured the sphere again. The image of the orb hovering above the Device, just like she had seen her instructor do, burned clearly in her mind. It was as if she could reach out and touch what was in her mind's eye.

 _Come._

It seemed like a low voice had whispered to her.

 _What was that?_

The image of the sphere in her mind began to wobble and waver, elongating. Nanoha was starting to be concerned.

 _What's going on? Who are you?_

 _Come._

The orb suddenly changed form into the silhouette of a woman, bending backwards in a state of ecstasy, and suddenly tendrils burst from her chest, filling the vision of the frightened girl

Still wondering fearfully what was happening, Nanoha looked up to see an enormous, shimmering snake looming over her.

 _Come._

The snake opened its mouth, as if to swallow her, but it melted away to form the shape of a skull, which stared at her with glassy eyes, smiling blankly.

She was no longer in control of her mind. The terror overcame her completely, and Nanoha cried out.

The next second she found herself back in the training room, with a ball of pink light hovering over her device, almost enveloping the prongs entirely.

All around her, she heard surprised voices.

"Her? No way! She did that?!"

"The Honorary?"

"Showoff..."

It took her a moment before she realized that she was the only one still projecting in the room, and fog the same magenta as her orb was rolling off of her, surrounding her like clouds. All around her, the dumbstruck gazes of the other trainees rested on her.

"Nanoha!"

Almost as a reflex, she pulled her hand off of the sensor, and the sphere immediately disappeared.

"Nanoha, what was that?" Suzuka's tone of voice was without its edge, and her expression suggested worry, or maybe fear. She didn't blame her. Nanoha had no idea what that thing in her mind was, either.

"You suddenly seized up, and then you started smoking...I thought you had caught on fire for a second there..." her friend muttered.

"A-are you okay?" Alice added, concerned.

"It's nothing." That was an outright lie; Nanoha knew it was something. It had to be something. What was that thing she had seen? What did it want?

"Hands off Devices, now!" the commander barked, striding heavily in the direction of the three girls. "We're going to try this again!"

Nanoha resolved to try to concentrate again, and get the memory of what just happened out of her head. But as she walked past, Testarossa caught her eyes in a way that had never happened before.

The commander had locked gazes with her for barely a second, but it was as if those ruby crystals were seeing directly into Nanoha's soul.

Alicia Testarossa's expression did not change.

For some reason, that frightened Nanoha most of all.

* * *

 **21/9/124 PI, 12:33:34**

 **ASSEMBLY HALL A, ROMMEL BASE**

Being on a completely different plane of existence didn't change the fact that lectures were boring.

Nanoha was seated in the fourth or fifth row of a spacious tiered conference room with far more seats than there were occupants, as an old, bearded officer stood at the pulpit, every now and then pausing to change the slide on the holoscreen. Once again, there was nobody around her but her two friends; all the other cadets were seated toward the front of the room, but it was the least of her worries.

Right now she was just busy struggling to stay awake as the officer droned on and on.

"What we refer to as magic, can, in fact, be explained by reason and processes. At its core, magic is simply a projection of the human mind onto the environment. The human body functions on many dimensions..."

It had been four days, and although she hadn't gotten used to it entirely, Nanoha was beginning to be more alert when the group awoke at four for training, and to be more disciplined about her belongings and her conduct. The class had moved on to handheld training Devices, the kind that had Barrier Jackets, and were beginning to practice shielding and simple projectile attacks. Fortunately for Nanoha, there hadn't been another incident like her first day, and she was trying to keep as low a profile as possible, although she still did get stares every now and then.

"In the body of every living being circulates mana, a higher-dimensional energy which helps regulate the functions of cells. Mana is far more powerful than any other process of life. Too much, and growth and aging moves at more than a hundred times normal. Too little, and the body withers and dies. The reason neither of those things happen to us is due to the Linker Core. The Linker Core is an organ on the same dimensional plane as mana that controls the amount and speed of the mana in the body, recycling old into new. In a sense, it is just as important as the heart..."

Training was hard. Nanoha wouldn't deny that. Every day, she had projected and defended until she sweated and ached, and then casted more spells. Practical training was four times a day, and the rest of the day was taken up by traditional class, with only thirty minutes each for meals and an hour of free time before lights out at 2200 hours. She was sure she had wanted to go home at least ten times every day, but she was still here, still on Midchilda with the armed forces.

"The Linker Core and mana are not able to be viewed by the naked eye, but the brain and the Linker Core are instrumental to magic. When magic is performed, electrical signals from the nerve cells in the brain stabilize the Linker Core in three dimensions. The Linker Core will then turn the flow of mana outwards to project what is envisioned in the brain. It is not without consequence, however. Using magic stops the flow of mana, causing it to stagnate and build into pockets. Use too powerful of magic for too long, and you run the risk of rupturing the Linker Core, causing unchecked leakage of mana. In the worst cases, this can prove to be fatal..."

Whoever said that being in the Mage Corps or Interdictors was easy was lying. Her commanding officer was right: the regimen the trainees were following was just about torture. Even as she sat trying her hardest to relax, random muscles and ligaments would tense and cry out in pain. Yet for some reason, she still wanted to keep going. Maybe it was because she didn't want to be forever known as a quitter. Maybe it was because casting spells was genuinely fun. Or maybe it was her father's words.

"Thoughts on their own cannot become spells. The Linker Core has long since evolved in too advanced a state to be responsive to the neural signals of most humans. That is why Devices exist. They are what equates to a personal supercomputer; a machine that processes one's cognitive images into an advanced form of data that is able to stimulate the Linker Core..."

But what Nanoha Takamachi found the most frightening about her new life as a soldier was not the spartan training regimen, or the six hours of sleep they were allowed, or even the fear of someday being thrown onto a battlefield. It was her commanding officer.

She had found herself lucky not to get on Alicia Testarossa's bad side. In just two days, almost a quarter of the cadets had been called to Captain Testarossa's office alone, and all of them had returned with a similar shell-shocked, vacant expression. She didn't want to know what the Interdictor officer was saying to her students, and she was grateful she hadn't found out.

Still, it seemed like ever since that first day of training, Testarossa was watching Nanoha very closely. More than once she could feel the prickly gaze of the blonde Interdictor when the cadets were practicing, or when they were moving around place to place, or even during free time. Nanoha was becoming more and more concerned about making a mistake.

 _What does she think is so special about me?_

Testarossa never seemed to change. She was always aloof, and always cold and sharp-tongued.

 _She's the same age as us, right? I wonder what happened to make her like that? Was she different before?_

Her mother always said Nanoha worried about others far too often for her own good. Still, she could tell that something was going on with their commanding officer. She hardly expected Testarossa to say anything about it, though.

 _I wonder if that's the real Alicia Testarossa..._

"Nanoha! You're spacing out again..." Suzuka tsked. "It's lunch. We need to get to the mess hall, or it's gonna close without us..."

Missing a meal was most likely not a good option, as Nanoha had found from her voracious appetite after the first few days. Magic burned more calories than she thought.

The cafeteria was the same dull metal as the rest of the army complex, although Nanoha had grown a bit used to the bleak minimalism. Although the servers handed the meals to the diners without any change of expression, the food was actually quite good, even if there was nothing from home on the menu. Nanoha couldn't afford to be picky, however, with how exhausting the training was.

Today, for whatever reason, she just wasn't that hungry, and stopped only halfway through her food.

"I can't believe they had pea soup two days in a row..." Alice sighed.

"Quit whining. You ate it all, didn't you?" Suzuka retorted.

"Of course I did! Are you an idiot or something? It's much better than what I had at home, so of course I'm going to eat it!"

"Look who's talking! How was I supposed to know that?"

"You could have figured it out!"

"Figured out how? Did you think that one up with your boobs or what?"

Alice squeaked indignantly and covered her chest. "W-what are you saying, pervert?"

"I'm saying your measurements are bigger than your IQ, you stupid pureblood!" From the lack of a retort, Nanoha could deduce that Suzuka's remarks had stunned the Belkan girl into silence. Her friend had a tendency to do things like that.

"And here I thought shy girls were supposed to be smart...You're not even shy anymore, you're just a pain in the ass," Suzuka muttered.

"I can't believe you! I thought the people of your country were supposed to be polite!" Alice retorted.

Normally, Nanoha would have been talking right alongside her friends, but today she just didn't feel like it. Her mind wandered to Captain Testarossa again...

"Nanoha."

Suzuka was looking at her, a concerned expression on her face.

"You haven't said a word since morning practice. Is something bothering you?"

"No," Nanoha replied, her face still towards the plate of half-eaten food in front of her. Clouds were beginning to form in her soup, and she absent-mindedly pushed the spoon around.

"Hey, are you gonna eat that?" Alice asked, pointing at the roll on Nanoha's plate. Any animosity of hers had apparently already been forgotten.

"You can have it."

Happily, the flaxen-haired girl downed the piece of bread in one gulp.

"Something is bothering you, isn't it?" Suzuka asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. I know enough about you to tell when you're worried about something. You always start drifting off and looking like you're sleepwalking...what is it?"

There wasn't much point in lying now. "It's...Captain Testarossa."

There was a moment's pause, then Suzuka replied, "Her?"

"It's hard to explain, but she always looks so distant and sad...I kind of want to help her..."

"Help her? With what? You're never going to see her again after this month. I don't really care about her personal life or anything like that."

"I thought maybe there was something we could do that would help her treat us better."

"Yeah, right. That's the one thing I can't stand about you. Whenever someone has a problem, you always want to butt in and try to fix it. How do you think Testarossa would react if you went right up to her and said that? Not everyone appreciates your efforts as much as you do."

"But maybe..."

"Just leave her alone. I swear, this is just like that one time in middle school where you saw that stray cat with the litter on the way to school and decided to take care of them all...do you remember how much trouble you caused everyone? I still can't believe your parents let you keep them."

Suzuka had failed to mention that she was the one who had brought up the idea of taking in the kittens in the first place. _Guess it can't be helped._

"Um...Did Nanoha really do that?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, she did, and that's not the only time, either. There was this other time in middle school, I think it was even the same year, where she found out the student council needed an extra hand for the festival planning committee, and she decided to do it even though she was already busy studying for entrance exams...she ended up staying up so late she got sick..."

It appeared that the Japanese and Midchildan girls had found common ground, as Suzuka proceeded to rattle off stories about her and Nanoha's childhood, which Alice was clearly enthralled by.

Nanoha knew it was stupid to try to figure out what was going on with her commanding officer. It was none of her business, just like Suzuka told her. But still, even if it was going to hurt her, she still wanted to know.

 _What's she really like?_

* * *

 **22:33:03**

 **OFFICERS' QUARTERS BLOCK B-05, ROMMEL BASE**

Dealing with trainees was preferable to being shot at on a battlefield, although Alicia Testarossa was sure that the battlefield was far less frustrating.

She had already changed for sleep, and lay sprawled out on her bed, her silky blonde hair fanned in a halo behind her head. Having to train those brats was exhausting. This was the strangest class she'd had in quite a while.

Then there was that Honorary girl. What was her name? Takahashi or something like that? For a novice, her magical output at the first training session completely caught Alicia by surprise. After that, she had promised to keep a closer eye on the girl, although nothing like that initial time had happened again. But she had still never seen someone generate so much raw magical power that it dispersed around her.

 _Not even I did that my first time._

The room was sparsely furnished. Apart from her bed, the only other piece of furniture was a desk on which a holoscreen and keyboard lay dormant and a copy of Nietzsche on the nightstand next to her metal headboard.

She sighed as she laid there. _You're judging the cadets too harshly. Not all of them are the same as you. You're only their age, remember._

She knew she was just eighteen, like everyone in the trainees. But it didn't feel that way. She'd been in the military for six years. She'd trained with a Device for ten. She had learned to cast spells before she had learned her multiplication tables. Everywhere she had gone, people had called her brilliant, gifted, prodigy, and after a while she just tuned it out. She'd almost come to accept that as ordinary.

She breathed out again, long and heavy. This was her third class, and they were probably all as scared of her as the first two had been. Alicia shouldn't have been a teacher, she knew. She had never been good with people. No, that was wrong. She'd never been around people at all. All her life had been spent following orders, not looking upon equals.

She didn't want to be the ice queen she was sure the rookies saw her as. But she had little patience for those who didn't have the skills she had. Alicia was grateful for her subordinates; if she had to instruct those students by herself, she would have probably already made most of them quit.

 _Why can't I be kinder? Why do I keep doing this?_

At that moment, a voice she knew very well entered her mind. _It's the role of the strong to guide the weak._

She hadn't heard that voice for ages. _Mother..._

On the desk, the holoscreen lit up, buzzing. She shook her head, rising. It had been seven years. Why was she thinking about that woman now?

Alicia clicked into the mailbox on the holoscreen to see a message from her superior officer, at Central Command in dimensional space. _Of course he has something urgent to say now..._

* * *

 **From: OSBF Verossa Acous**

 **To: HSF Alicia Testarossa**

 **Subject: Intel, flag IMPORTANT**

Sorry to bother you late at night, but I've got something you might want to take a look at. Remember a month or so ago, when I sent you the info about that recent spike in attacks on Earth plantations? Well, one of our surveillance drones captured this photo in central Mexico, right after an attack occurred. Fifteen Coordinators were killed and most of the Inhuman workers had fled by the time the Heer had scrambled a platoon. We think these two were fleeing the scene. I'm sure there had to be more present at the time of the attack, but the magical residue reading the drone took for these two is alarming.

* * *

Alicia would save her irritation at her commander's remarkable procrastination skills for later.

She turned her attention to the photo below the message. Although it was low-resolution, she was clearly able to make out two figures in flight over the Central American landscape, a larger dark-haired individual and a smaller blonde. Both appeared to be male, although she couldn't tell from this distance. The larger one was in black, which strangely resembled an Interdictor uniform, although there were strips of green and brown in it too. The smaller one was entirely in drab green.

She took a look at the smaller one again. For some strange reason, the image of a boy she had met a few years prior popped into her head. She wondered why; it's not like they were ever close or anything like that.

 _If that's all he has to say, I should have just waited until tomorrow. Thanks for wasting my time._

* * *

As she was about to shut the screen off, she noticed there was more to the mail, at the very end.

By the way, I heard from Admiral Weinstad that the Fuhrer might be paying your class a visit on Monday. Hope you're prepared.

-Verossa Acous

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

Hi! It's been a while, hasn't it? I hope you guys didn't think I was dead or anything like that...

Anyway, the reason it took so long to update was because I didn't feel like doing anything over Winter Break other than being as lazy as humanly possible. So sorry for the wait. I'll try to update again within the week to make up for it. As promised, this is a Nanoha-centric chapter, and the "big event" is growing very close...you'll have to wait and see...

In other news, I've been watching all the seasonal anime, I'm in the top 2500 in the Honoka event on the English Love Live! School Idol Festival servers, and I'm 2-3 in my League placement matches. Not bad at all :)

My Christmas and New Year's was pretty great. I got quite a few figures, a few video games (although Fallout 4 blew my computer's graphics card when I tried to play it, RIP) and a lot of money. The only problem is my general lack of friends or a GF, although I've got another year to fix that. For now, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you next time.

* * *

 **MAHOU SHOUJO LYRICAL NANOHA IS THE PROPERTY OF MASAKI TSUZUKI, SEVEN ARCS, NBCUNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN, KING RECORDS, A-1 PICTURES, AND ANIPLEX. THIS IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT FANWORK. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING RELATED TO THE ORIGINAL SERIES.**


	5. Chapter 4

**26/6/124 PI, 10:24:54**

 **ABOARD SANKTKRADEL SURFACE-TO-AIR SHUTTLE 2**

 **AIRSPACE OF ADMINISTRATED WORLD #1, MIDCHILDA**

The summer sun halfway to its zenith shone through the rightmost windows of the small transport aircraft; below, it cast its glare upon the sprawling metropolis of Clanagan. At its heart, skyscrapers gleamed white-hot; farther to the north and east rows and rows of cookie-cutter homes fanned out on artificially curvy streets. To the south, factories belched clouds of steam, smoke, and colorful light, and beyond the city limits was the Midchildan forest, bisected every so often by an autobahn carrying traffic from one city to the next.

The view was impressive from this distance, thought Jail Scaglietti, as the VTOL craft continued its descent. He had refused at first, but against his better judgement, he had given in when the Fuhrer- no, Vivio, begged him to accompany her on her monthly inspection of the Wehrmacht's mage training program. He had other pressing matters to deal with, but somehow he just couldn't refuse the supreme ruler of a galaxy-spanning empire pleading him to come along with puppy eyes. Even though he could care less about a group of kids playing around with training Devices that couldn't kill a fly, the Hegemon of the Proletariat had still ended up bound for the surface nonetheless.

He shifted around in the couch that surrounded a small circular table, sighing as the aircraft buffeted, entering a cloud bank. The accommodations were comfortable, but Scaglietti couldn't shake the feeling in the back of his mind that there was something he needed to be doing other than this. The number of terrorist attacks on Reich-inhabited garrison worlds had increased over the last few months, and they all seemed to be connected somehow. Then there was the food shortage on Hundar, and several colonies petitioning for Bundestag membership...

And above all, that prophecy still ate away at him, even though he had seen no signs of it coming true recently.

Oh well, those matters could wait. It was time for the Hegemon to see the future of the Reich himself, those who would uphold the duty of a Belkan with bravery and honor in the future.

 _Bravery? Honor?_ Scaglietti chuckled to himself. _That makes them better than me already._

It was no use dwelling on his past now. He tried to put that out of his mind and watch the scenery as the transport began to bank for its clearance into Von Richthofen Airfield.

"Jail? Where did Minister Scrya go?"

The Fuhrer, who was sitting beside him, had leaned toward an empty area of seating to the Hegemon's left.

"Probably to the bathroom. There's not a lot of other places that old man could have gone."

Along with the two High Council members, twenty of the Mage Corps had been assigned for protection detail, and the Fuhrer's personal Elite stood behind her, stone-faced, at full alert as usual. Scaglietti felt rather superfluous; there was another High Council member present, and he could do the "job" of watching the cadets just as well as the Hegemon could.

"Is something bothering you?" the Fuhrer asked, gentle concern in her voice.

"Oh, just the usual: senators in the Bundestag squabbling over everything, food shortage in the colonies, that kind of stuff," Scaglietti replied, not mentioning the real source of his worries. It wouldn't be a good idea to needlessly worry Her Divinity- no, Vivio, he told himself again, with news like that.

"Sounds like normal. Say, you never told me what happened to Quattro," the Fuhrer responded.

"She's with Minister Testarossa, working on the Midchilda's master computer system at the Laboratorium. We've been getting more and more delays in response time to the airspace defense nodes lately, so we think it might be time for an update."

To the right of the Hegemon, the white-haired Aldegard Scrya slouched back into his seat. He had been so caught up in his own problems, Scaglietti hadn't noticed his fellow High Council member's return.

"I wonder what the cadets are going to be like this time," Vivio mused, turning one of her blond curls around her finger. "I hope there's a surprise or something. It would make for good PR."

 _They had better be competent, at least._

"Anyway, I'm glad you decided to come along," Vivio smiled radiantly.

"That's your fault. I have business I need to attend to."

"What, you couldn't even spare an hour or two to come check on the military's future? You're so unpatriotic."

"Now, now," Minister Scrya laughed in his aged, wheezy voice, "I'm sure Hegemon Scaglietti didn't mean it that way. He is busy running the country, after all."

"Whatever. I'm going out to the observation deck," Vivio announced, hopping up from her seat. Erio Mondial followed behind her, leaving Scaglietti alone with Scrya at the table.

In situations like these, the Hegemon usually reached for the smokes.

Scaglietti pulled a cigarette from a package in his breast pocket and, flicking open the lid of a lighter he had stored along with the package, lit it with one deft stroke. He offered the package to the minister sitting beside him. "Want one?"

"Ah, no thank you," Scrya replied, waving his hand. "I quit a couple years ago."

The Hegemon pulled the cigarette from his mouth and blew a cloud outwards. "I really ought to, also. I just can't bring myself to."

"I don't blame you. It's only natural, isn't it? You have a lot on your plate."

He was right; the steady inhalation and exhalation of the tobacco did help to calm the Hegemon down during his more worrisome moments.

"So, what brings you here?" the Hegemon asked.

"I had nothing pressing, so I felt it would be good to see what the mage cadets are like. And..." He stopped, mid-sentence. "Never mind that."

There was something he clearly didn't want to say, and Scaglietti didn't want to press him any further. Aldegard Scrya was the head of a distinguished family that dated back to the Ancient Belkan days; they were archaeologists, from what the Hegemon knew. Minister Scrya had been Scaglietti's senior when Scaglietti first entered the High Council; Scrya had already had years of tenure then. However, in the past few years it had seemed like something had happened to the Minister of the Interior; he had become sullen and lifeless. While in the past he had been opinionated and never afraid to speak his mind, in the years that followed Scaglietti had noticed his change into a more and more apathetic individual, as if he was simply waiting for death to be his release.

The comm system on the shuttle pinged, and a male voice said, "We are cleared for landing, fifteen minutes until touchdown. All passengers on the outside observation deck, please return inside."

Vivio was making her way back inside, and soon it would be time to inspect the trainees. It was time to forget about any other issues.

Jail Scaglietti had decided to take this mission, and it was too late to back out now.

He might as well enjoy it.

* * *

 **10:56:05**

 **DEUTSCHES REICHSHEER ROMMEL BASE, CORRIDOR H-16**

 **CAPITAL CITY OF CLANAGAN, ADMINISTERED WORLD #1, MIDCHILDA**

There was a remarkable homogeneity to the government buildings of the Reich, Vivio Saegebrecht noted as her party made their way down a dull gray hall. Even though she had taken this particular path more than a few times, it was still hard to distinguish it from the thousands of other government edifices she had visited in the past. If she were to be blindfolded and dropped into Rommel Base, she thought, she might not be able to tell it apart from the Sanktkradel.

The boots of the Mage Corps officers surrounding the group thudded in a lulling rhythm. Vivio thought herself, and the people around her, must make an odd sight: a relatively plain-looking girl in the lead, a middle-aged man next to her, an old, wizened man walking with a limp on the other side, and her tall knight in golden armor behind them all.

 _If we were just normal people, I'd bet we would look funny together._

Even though today's inspection was just a routine task in the never-ending series of routine tasks that was the job of the supreme leader of an empire, Vivio still looked forward to it. It was very calming to watch a bunch of bright-eyed rookies learning to cast spells, beaming in joy when they finally mastered a difficult cast, or mock-battling with fierce determination.

Sometimes she would look at them and wish she was one of them. If she was just a rank-and-file, no one would exalt her, no one would bow to her, no one would treat her as a god.

No one would be scared of her.

But however much she might have wished for it, she wasn't one of them. She was the Fuhrer of the Grossdeutsches Galaxienreich, the most powerful human being in existence.

This surface visit was a first in two ways, however. It was the first time she had been able to convince the Hegemon to come with her, and the first time where three members of High Council would be on one inspection. At the very least, it would mean she had someone to talk to. Normally, inspections were just her and Erio, and he would just stand there like a statue and not say anything. If she asked her anything at all, his answer was always "Whatever Her Divinity desires." He was too boring.

"Where are these cadets, anyway?" Scaglietti grumbled next to her. "We've been walking for what seems like hours. I'm too old for this."

"It's only been five minutes!" Vivio tsked, puffing her cheeks out. "Do you not exercise or something?"

"Well, sorry I'm not a fountain of youthful energy like you, Princess. I have a very demanding job. Do you want me to do paperwork while I run a marathon? Or maybe I should hold my conference with the Valirethese and Kologian senators in the middle of a tennis match. That's exactly the first impression that would make this country proud: a sweaty, out-of-breath fortysomething."

"I'm not saying that! Just go outside and do something! Go use one of the simulators instead of spending all your days off at the Laboratorium! You know how to use magic, right?"

"No. I can't at all. I'm entirely useless," the Hegemon retorted. "The only reason the Elites listen to me is my stunning good looks."

"If that's right, they have some twisted priorities. I bet you only made them so women would actually talk to you, right? You're a real creep sometimes."

"What did I do to deserve that?"

"Aw, come on. You know it's true. You're way more interested in mixing chemicals then dating."

The Hegemon sighed in exasperation. "I am so terribly sorry I offended you one way or another. And besides, I really don't want to hear all this from someone who hasn't even been kissed yet."

"I'm not allowed to, idiot! You told me that yourself! Don't you remember?"

This was what she had missed on every single visit to the base previously. Talking like this to someone helped her escape all the responsibility that ate at her every single day.

The group took a turn, and another long hallway opened up.

Scaglietti groaned. "I'm going to find out whoever designed this and go spit on his grave."

 _Why can't you be like Minister Scrya? He's not complaining like you._

Actually, she didn't mind the complaining. Part of why she liked being around Scaglietti so much was that she could get upset or frustrated with him, and he wouldn't mind. It made her feel just a little bit closer to normalcy.

Minister Scrya was a different story. She had never felt all that comfortable around him. When she was still getting accustomed to her new life as Fuhrer, she could vaguely remember him being an outgoing member of the Council, but she just found him dull. Now, it was like he was a walking corpse. Something had changed in the past few years, and she had no idea what. In fact, she sort of wondered if the strong figure in her memories even existed at all.

After a few more turns, passing by uniformed personnel who would respectively dip their heads all the way, Vivio could see a group of black-clad Interdictors turning the corner to meet them. As they got closer, Vivio could make out two women and a man, and no faces she recognized. _Looks like they changed instructors again._

As the Interdictors reached the Fuhrer's group, they immediately dropped to one knee.

"Your Divinity," the woman in the lead began, in a voice that was soft but powerful. "It is an honor for you to observe my students. I hope they are up to your standards."

All three of them stood, and Vivio got her first good look at the officers. The first thing she noticed about the one in the front who spoke was that she was very short, and her skin was smooth and clear, even though she had a pouty resting expression. The hair that draped over her shoulders was a very light shade of flaxen, making the two black ribbons she tied in them contrast even more than they would have on just anyone, and on her small face a couple shimmering rubies cast their gaze over Vivio's group. She had to be a Special Care, Vivio concluded. She just looked too young to be in charge of such an operation otherwise.

"My name is Captain Alicia Testarossa, and I am the instructor for this course. These behind me-" she pointed at the man and the woman, "are Lieutenants Wolfenburg and Roth, my assistants. We are pleased to make your acquaintance."

The Fuhrer couldn't deny that she was really cute. The officer resembled a doll more than a soldier.

 _She looks like she could be my little sister, almost. I wonder what having one would be like._

However, she could be certain those same thoughts weren't going through Jail Scaglietti's head. As soon as Captain Testarossa had announced her name, Vivio could sense that the aura he gave off had changed. She was very good at detecting auras, but she didn't know exactly why. Maybe it was her bloodline.

"A-Alicia?" he stuttered out.

The expression of the Interdictor didn't change. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Hegemon Scaglietti. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Ah, yes, it has," the Hegemon replied, collecting himself.

"Alicia!" Minister Scrya exclaimed. "What a surprise it is to see you here. You've grown so much since the last time."

"Good day to you, too, Minister Scrya. If you will follow me this way," Testarossa announced, motioning with her hand, "you'll be able to view the students from the observation deck."

"Will they know we'll be there?" Vivio asked, partly out of actual concern and partly just to talk to the Interdictor captain. Even though she seemed cold, she appeared to be close enough to the Fuhrer's age, and she gave off a very pleasant aura, the Fuhrer noticed. It was almost the same as Scaglietti's. This girl seemed like she could make a very good friend for future trips to the surface.

"They will not be informed of Her Divinity's presence. It would place unnecessary pressure on them to perform well, and they would end up doing worse than normal. The observation deck has an illusion placed on it so that it looks closed to the outside."

"I've never been that way before, so I didn't know. Oh, and by the way, Vivio is fine."

Testarossa's tone was as flat as ever. "One such as me could not even begin to think about addressing Her Divinity in such a rude manner."

 _Looks like it's gonna take more work to get her comfortable with me than I thought..._

For now, there was something she was much more curious about.

She drew back, and leaning over the Hegemon's shoulder, said in a tone halfway between a mutter and a whisper, "Hey, how do you know her?"

"Well, long story short, I'm her legal guardian."

"You're what?! She's not Minister Testarossa's daughter?" The shout of surprise she held back came out as a tense hiss.

"Actually, she is, and I don't want to tell you about it in front of her. She really doesn't need to be reminded about that time."

The tone of his voice suggested she should go no further, and Vivio backed off, although she wasn't very happy about news such as that being broken to her so casually. _I thought we agreed to tell each other about something like this! Does he really not trust me that much?_

 _Well, actually I guess legally that does make her my sister, now that I think about it..._

"What about Minister Scrya? How does he know her?"

"Hell if I know."

"Can I call you Alicia? Testarossa's a mouthful," she asked the Interdictor captain as the group climbed a set of stairs.

Her answer was concise. "Her Divinity may refer to me any way so long as it pleases her."

"Okay," she giggled. "Alicia it is."

"I have no objections. My family name is too low-born for Her Divinity to speak."

"So have the cadets been doing well in their paper studies?"

"Yes," Alicia responded. "This year's class is the most intelligent I've had in my three years as an instructor."

"What are they learning about? I'm interested."

"Today, if I recall correctly, they went over the Unification Wars. It's a subject I don't like to dwell on too much."

"Over a thousand years of war between thousands and thousands of petty kingdoms and principalities and dukedoms, all claimant to the fallen throne of the Ancient Belkan empire." Vivio repeated what she had memorized a few years ago, when she was still getting used to her throne. "Almost three quadrillion dead, hundreds of thousands of systems rendered uninhabitable or destroyed outright. I don't blame the people for turning their back on the old gods at all."

"You're descended from the Saint, right? If so, all of us have your ancestor to thank for preserving the race before we wiped ourselves out completely. I think you make as much of a strong leader as her."

"Thank you. I hope there will never be another war like that again, at least not in my lifetime. I'll do everything I can to prevent it."

"So will I, although I don't know how much I can do in my current position."

The Interdictor captain seemed to be opening up a bit more. Maybe that was the trick, Vivio thought, she needed to be more serious. Maybe Alicia liked it when the Fuhrer was the person she probably expected her to be.

At last the group came to a stop in a room with a large window in the front, overlooking a gymnasium-style open area far from above. Below them, many mage cadets in the blue-trimmed white Barrier Jackets of trial Devices were practicing various aspects of magic: some were attempting flight, others were shielding or launching beams and bolts of energy at each other, and still others chose close combat, grappling and striking as they reinforced their fists and feet with magic.

"Have they already chosen their styles yet?" The Minister's wheeze surprised Vivio. It seemed like so long since he had something to say.

"They've all been trained in the basics, like shields, bombardments, and captures, although some of them have shown more aptitude toward the Modern Belkan system. However, I think it will be just the same as normal; only a few gravitate toward the old style. Most are going to be Midchildan system, as usual."

"That young man behind Her Divinity is a Belkan-style," Scrya chuckled in his rasp-wheeze. "Perhaps he might be able to instruct your cadets on a technique or two."

 _Forget it. Erio would never leave my side._

Behind Vivio, the red-headed boy in the armor dipped his head. "I respectfully decline the offer, sir."

 _What did I tell you?_

"Are there any with conversion affinity?" Minister Scrya asked Alicia, continuing on.

"A couple, though no adepts."

As she said that, Vivio watched as the hand of one of the cadets, a blonde girl, burst into crimson flame. The girl beamed at first, but her expression turned to panic as she immediately began flailing her arm around like she was being attacked. Accidentally, her hand singed the purple hair of a girl next to her, who immediately turned and smacked the blonde on the back of the head. The blonde sank to the ground, looking a mix between disappointment and shame.

"That's one of the possible elemental mages," Alicia sighed, "and she's an idiot. I don't know how Bannings forgot she couldn't be burned by her own flames. It looks like she got Tsukimura mad again, too. I have no idea how those two can stand to be around each other."

 _Tsukimura? Strange name...come to think of it, she looked like an Honorary, didn't she? I only got a bit of a glance, though..._

"Now, who would the top student in your class be?" Scrya continued.

"That would probably be Dien Bliekhart, over there." Captain Testarossa gestured to a corner, where a slim silver-haired boy was firing bolts off the mirrors located on one set of walls and immediately deflecting them with his Barrier spell. His defense was impeccable; Vivio noticed he hadn't let anything get by yet.

"He's the second son of a Midchildan noble family," the Interdictor continued. "He's exceptionally talented, but I think he doesn't get along well with people. I'm worried about his ability to coexist in a military setting."

Suddenly, Vivio could distinctly feel the presence of another aura close by. She looked around her; no one had entered the observation deck. Who is it? Vivio cast her gaze downwards. _Don't tell me it's coming from down there...Of course it's not. There's no way a rookie would be that powerful._

As the Fuhrer scanned the group of trainees, she noticed that the powerful wave of mana she was sensing was pulsing with greater intensity than before. It was growing stronger, stronger, stronger...

As her eyes settled on the back of a girl's head in the crowd of trainees, the pulse of the energy surging around her became constant. _Is that who that's coming from?_ She chuckled a bit to herself. _No way._

Then the girl turned around, and the Fuhrer's eyes grew wide.

It was the girl she had seen in her vision, and she was staring back up at her.

Trying as hard as possible to recover from the shock, she hurriedly turned to the Interdictor captain. "Who's that?" she asked, pointing a shaky finger at the figure that seemed like she had stepped straight from Vivio's dreams.

"Oh, her..." Alicia answered. "She's pretty interesting..."

"How so?" Vivio was trying to conceal her nervousness as best she could.

"That one is Nanoha Takamachi, an Honorary. I had a low opinion of her at first, but the first day of training she produced one of the most powerful auric reactions I've ever seen. I almost thought I was asleep and dreaming it when I saw it...she had no magical experience prior to that point, but she was generating enormous amounts of mana."

 _She can't be...the Serpent in that prophecy, can she?_ Vivio knew she was being paranoid, and that there was little chance this prodigal student could turn out to be an Ancient Belkan god reincarnated for the sake of revenge. Still, she couldn't help but be a little worried.

Suddenly, Vivio had an idea.

Closing her eyes, she reached out with her mind, initiating a Meld spell, attempting contact with that Takamachi girl. It was a very high-level technique, designed to aid an ally by increasing their mana through a mind link, but it was one she had done successfully before.

As soon as her mind connected with the Honorary girl's, she immediately felt as if all her energy was being drained from her like when the plug was pulled in a bathtub. Frantically, Vivio canceled the mind-link, coming back to reality.

What she saw when she opened her eyes stunned her beyond anything she had ever witnessed.

The girl named Nanoha Takamachi was hovering about ten feet off the ground, surrounded by clouds of brilliant magenta. Around her was a perfect sphere of a shimmering, transparent substance the same color as the fog she was apparently generating, like water had been suspended in midair.

The others with the Fuhrer were just as shocked as she was; Hegemon Scaglietti's mouth hung open, and Minister Scrya had the color drained from his face. Even Erio appeared to be concerned.

"That's a full Oval Protection..." Testarossa muttered in awe. "There's no way she should be able to do that...I've only taught them ground-based shielding..."

Then the cadet immediately dropped to the ground, and all of it was gone.

It took more than a minute for the group to process what they had seen, and in the confusion, Vivio didn't realize Minister Scrya had slipped out of the room with the Interdictor captain. Her mind was racing with so many questions she didn't know where to start.

The Fuhrer had gotten what she wanted. Today's training had been exciting. So why did she feel more worried than happy?

* * *

 **11:19:43**

 **ROMMEL BASE TRAINING FACILITY C**

Today was free practice, which meant the cadets were able to practice whatever they wanted. In the week or so after learning to use magic for the first time, Nanoha had grown in leaps and bounds; she had become able to cast a decent Protection, and had begun to try some of the more offensive spells, but she was always unsteady, and when she attempted buster-types they would just fizzle out without so much as a pop. It didn't help that they were still using training Devices; they couldn't change state, which, as Nanoha learned about in class, would make attacking or defending so much easier.

She wondered when they would get their real Devices. Most of the students had already identified which style of magic they were most proficient in, and an instructor would probably help them if they weren't sure; she understood that tailoring a supercomputer to each particular cadet's standards would take time, but she was getting kind of impatient, and she could tell that some of the more proficient students in the class were as well. She didn't blame them; if she had mastered all her basic spells, she would want to go on and attempt the hard stuff, not be stuck putting up weak shields and tossing out low-power energy bolts.

Her friends were beginning to develop their own identities, too: Suzuka had shown the makings of a vanguard attacker. Nanoha thought the reckless style, the fragile defense to compensate for the extra speed and power, fit her best friend very well. On the other hand, Alice had discovered on the fourth day that she had conversion affinity, or the ability to convert excess mana into elemental powers. In her case, it was fire; Alice had positively beamed when Lieutenant Roth had told her that she was elemental-positive, and Nanoha knew why: those sorts of powers were rare, even in the magic-using community. There were only one or two more in the entire class.

As for Nanoha herself, she didn't quite know what she wanted to be yet. Nothing stood out to her. Although her defense was better than her offense, it wasn't by much. However, she knew she really liked the bombardment spells; the day they were shown in class she knew she wanted to be able to shoot beams of light like the most powerful mages could some day. However, the job of a suppression mage, which primarily used bombardment, sounded very boring to her; also, she couldn't get off any sort of Buster as it was, and could barely manage a Level One Breaker.

She thought of when she was younger, being knocked to the dojo floor by another student's shinai again and crying, and the voice of her father entered her mind. _At times like this, if you're not able to do it at first, you will be eventually. You just need to keep trying._

His words from long ago filled her with hope again, and pointing her Device at the wall lined with Barrier-reinforced padding and picturing the beam in her mind, called out, "Buster Level One!"

It wasn't very bright, but she could clearly see something flash from the end of the Device, and she felt a bit of recoil and heard something thump against the pads.

She broke out in a smile. _I did it!_

"Hey, Nanoha!" She recognized the voice of her Midchildan friend, and when she turned to check Alice was smiling cattily. "Wanna see something? I asked that Honorary jerk, and she said no! Can you believe that? I thought she'd be proud!"

Nanoha giggled rather tensely. "Uh..sure..."

"Here goes!" Alice yelled. "FLAME PROJECTION!"

A ball of ruby-red fire hovered over the palm of Alice's hand. "Heh heh, see what I can do?" Alice grinned. "I guess that other Honorary was jealous of me!"

The Midchildan girl had taken her eyes off her fire, and it was starting to grow and spread down her dominant hand to the wrist.

"Umm, Alice..." Nanoha tried to alert her. "Your arm is..."

"Was it that great?" Alice seemed to be on top of the world, until she saw her entire right forearm was covered in writhing flame down to the elbow. Her eyes widened, and she gasped. "U-uwaaaaaah! My arm! I'm gonna get burned! I-I don't want to be cooked! I'm not food!" She took off, flailing the fire-covered arm every which way. "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!"

Nanoha didn't know what to do. _Was it...stop, drop and crawl? No, that doesn't sound right...What was it?_

As the blonde girl continued trying to put her arm out in a panic, she immediately bumped into the back of a purple head of hair, nearly singing it. Almost immediately, Suzuka whipped around and chopped Alice on the back of the neck.

"What do you think you're doing?" the Japanese girl snapped to Alice, who was now forcefully kneeling on the ground. In the chaos, her hand had gone completely out.

"Sorry..." Alice moaned. "My hand was on fire..." She pulled her hand up to her face. "Oh, it's all gone now..."

"Huh? Don't you remember that your own elemental spells can't hurt you? They can hurt me, idiot! You could have burned through my head!" _She's really mad..._ "Where were you when we learned about that, huh? That old man said it like ten times! Don't tell me you forgot _that_!"

Alice scratched her chin, feigning cluelessness. "I kinda slept through it, hehe..."

This time, Suzuka brought her hand down on the top of Alice's head. The pureblood moaned dejectedly.

Nanoha was going to have to go play peacemaker again. She was getting a bit tired of doing that.

Suddenly, as soon as she took a step toward them, she was hit with an intense wave of something. The feeling she got from it was incredible; her head swam. She was losing her senses quickly, and immediately she whited out.

When she came back to, she was flat on the ground, and her friends were staring at her from above, dumbfounded. From the sounds of it, she could tell that everyone in the facility had stopped. She dreaded the thought of what happened. _Did I do something like the first day again?_

"You okay?" Suzuka asked.

"I-I think so," Nanoha replied.

The gym stayed silent for about a minute or so, and Nanoha lay on the ground, but one by one the sounds of training resumed, and in another minute the facility was filled with noise again.

She slowly pushed herself up. _What happened?_

"Nanoha," Alice asked shakily, "would it be okay if we stopped here?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Nanoha shook her head, trying to clear out the cobwebs.

"I'll go get water!" the Midchildan girl announced before running off.

Fifteen minutes later, as Nanoha managed to get back to her feet, the officers announced that practice was over. More than a hundred weary students let out sighs of relief, Nanoha and their party among them.

As they prepared to exit and head toward the cafeteria, Nanoha felt the presence before she heard the steely voice.

"Takamachi. Come with me. I need to speak with you, in private."

Every drop of blood in Nanoha's body turned to ice water when she heard Captain Testarossa behind her. She had no idea. What had she done wrong? She had tried to be inconspicuous...had she failed a test? Had she not been meeting her advancement goals? Was she going to be expelled?

Obediently, she followed her commanding officer out the door and into a hallway she'd never been down before. She knew her friends would be dreading it, too, and she hated to make them worry. _I'll explain everything later. If I get the chance to, that is..._

They walked in silence, the small, black-uniformed officer leading the way, the cadet wearing white following. Even though she was terrified, Nanoha still noticed that the Sig runes pinned to the collar of the Captain's uniform, and the eagle on her hat, glinted as she walked, and her armband stood out, crimson against an inky darkness. It was just like her to notice such things when she was that scared.

After a short walk, they reached a door with a nameplate on it. The captain went in first and motioned for Nanoha to follow. As the girl entered, she realized with a start that the Minister of the Interior, Aldegard Scrya, was standing in front of her.

She immediately began to kneel, as she had learned was the custom when encountering any member of the High Council. She didn't want to make such a grave error under any circumstances. However, as soon as she did, the Minister immediately put out his hand and motioned his head "no".

Captain Testarossa pointed to a chair. "You may sit there," she commanded, and Nanoha obliged, still in a daze about what was going on.

 _What does he, of all people, want with me?_

Minister Scrya hobbled forward, limping. "I assume you're wondering what I'm doing here, aren't you?"

Nanoha could barely squeak in response.

"Don't worry. I assure you, you've done nothing wrong. In fact, I believe you've done something right."

He reached into his pocket, and removed what looked like a small, red, spherical gem.

"You don't mind if I tell you something a little personal, do you? I feel like there is no choice, unfortunately."

He rolled the gem in his hand. "What I have here is a Device. Four years ago, I found it in an expedition into the ruins of old Galea...I still had time to continue the family business back then, of course, but what I was really doing was seeking out a Device that would help my youngest child, my only son. At that time, he was just thirteen, and he wanted to enter the Special Care Center more than anything else in the world...but he could not produce any attacking spells. I'd tried Device after Device, but none of them seemed to work. I had a special place in my heart for him, and wanted to help him all I could, but he would not improve. Thus, I took it upon myself to find something that would help him. If I must give you advice, never go to Galea if you have a choice. The Kriegsmarine restricts access for a reason. The whole planet seeps with malice...I have no doubt it's dangerous. While I was there, the entire time it felt like someone was breathing down my neck. They even say some of those dreadful dark-magic puppets from the Warring Ages still shamble about, and will hunt you if you're not aware. I was lucky not to find one of them, however. What I found, instead, was this."

He stopped, coughed, then continued on. "At the time I discovered it, I couldn't believe it. A Device dating from the Unification period...it must have been fate itself. It was no longer operable, but I took it to the Laboratorium and had them reconfigure it. When they told me it was an attack booster, I was elated. It would be the perfect surprise for my son. He was on a trip to Earth to check out some ancient site...when he got back I would give it to him as a present. But..."

He paused. Nanoha could tell there were tears welling up in his eyes.

"My son never came back."

Nanoha bowed her head.

"It took me a time, but I've come to terms with it. He would have wanted me to pass his knowledge on," Minister Scrya wheezed sadly. "That's why today, I asked to come observe the trainees, to see if any were worthy of carrying out our family legacy. And after I talked to Alicia, I believe I've found one that will make the Reich, and my son, proud. He would have been your age today, did you know that?"

Nanoha was too shocked to register that the Minister had just called Captain Testarossa by her first name. _He wants me to what? Wait a minute...what is he doing?_

Minister Scrya placed his finger on the red gem, and it immediately lit up.

A tinny, artificial voice sounded from the stone. "Intelligent Device startup. Confirming Midchildan system. Startup complete. Serial number 0023-193646, call sign Raising Heart. No master detected. Please register."

Minister Scrya was in front of her. "Place your hand over it."

Almost like she was dreaming, Nanoha complied. As soon as she did, her heart started racing. _Why are they making me do this? What's going on? Please, just tell me! I don't understand!_

The Device spoke again. "Registration complete. I recognize Nanoha Takamachi, serial number 00EA-2739-9472, as my master."

Her mouth dropped open. _Master?!_

"I'm sorry, but could you please explain this more clearly?" she asked frantically. "I don't know what's happening! Why is it saying I'm its master? What's going on?"

Even though she had been silent the whole time, Captain Testarossa chose now to speak.

"Don't you understand, Takamachi? This is your Device now. It belongs to you."

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

Whew...finals season is approaching, so my amount of sleep is rapidly decreasing. After the last chapter, I took a bit of a break, but I felt guilty about not writing enough so I decided to knock this chapter out. Combined with my general need to study, this took me a couple all-nighters to finish...I hope the quality isn't affected too badly!

I originally planned to have the first half end in this chapter, but this took me way too many words for that...in fact, this is my longest chapter yet! O_O I have come to the depressing conclusion that I am not a brief writer...I hope you guys don't mind. We're finally getting to see Nanoha and her friends develop as mages, and I was glad to get to write from the perspective of Vivio again. She's one of my favorite characters in this universe because of all the possibilities I have with her. We got Raising Heart to show up! I was racking my brain about how I could get it to Nanoha in this universe...I hope you like it.

A few people have asked me about the abbreviations and what they mean. Well, I'm operating under the assumption that the characters are speaking German to each other, so the abbreviations I use are German. For example, the Interdictory Corps (the pseudo-police force, formed from a merger of the SS and the TSAB's Executive Office, which had the Enforcers), uses SS ranks. Since Alicia and her boss are part of it, they would use those ranks. For example, Alicia is a _Hauptsturmführer_ , which roughly translates to captain in English. Acous is a _Obersturmbannführer_ , or lieutenant colonel. For another example, ESS, the cartridge replacement in this universe, translates to _Energieschlubsystem_ , which means "energy boosting system". Unfortunately, I'm not a native German speaker, so if anyone is and sees anything wrong with my German, feel free to point it out and I'll correct it.

Here's a brief explanation of how the Wehrmacht fields mages in this universe. There are two branches for magic users, the Mage Corps and the Interdictors. The Mage Corps is significantly larger, and is administered by the Heer (the army). Most of its battalions are combat-ready, but it also operates such diverse branches as disaster relief and wildlife preserve administration. It came about as the result of the victorious Nazi Party integrating the TSAB's ground forces into the Reich after the TSAB was defeated. In contrast, the Interdictory Corps, which Alicia is a part of, are a smaller organization, and operate to deal with addressing magical criminals and anti-Party elements, magical or not. They were formed as a result of the SS merging with the TSAB Executive Office and are administered by the Kriegsmarine (Navy). At least one is required aboard every Kriegsmarine ship. Like the SS, the public's response to them is mainly negative because they are really only seen taking people away for speaking badly of the Reich (the Mage Corps gets all the good PR!). The mage training program is jointly administered by the Mage Corps and the Interdictors, and upon graduation each cadet picks which branch to join (most go for the Mage Corps). The Elites, which the Numbers and Erio are a part of, are known as the Independent Mage Corps, but they answer only to the High Council. They are only used for the gravest of danger and for threats High Council wants to keep the military in the dark about, either for safety reasons or otherwise.

I have to admit a grave Nanoha sin...I've never listened to the StrikerS Sound Stages, and I dropped the ViVid manga at the first volume because it was just so god damn disgustingly sweet. The original Nanohas were badass series, but this was vomit-inducing sugary. I've read some synopses on the wiki, but I haven't gone through them again...fortunately they don't affect my series too much.

Well, it's getting very late here, so I need to go to bed. I've had a great time writing these, and I'll continue as soon as I can.

-mrcmc888

* * *

 **MAHOU SHOUJO LYRICAL NANOHA IS THE PROPERTY OF MASAKI TSUZUKI, SEVEN ARCS, NBCUNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN, AND KING RECORDS. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING RELATED TO THE SERIES. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE WHENEVER POSSIBLE.**


	6. Chapter 5

**15/7/124 PI, 23:25:36**

 **REICHSLABORATORIUM SUBFLOOR 2**

 **10 MILES OUTSIDE CAPITAL CITY OF CLANAGAN, ADMINISTRATED WORLD #1, MIDCHILDA**

It would be wrong to say that an intruder in the restricted area was the fault of the guards stationed around the heavy iron door marked "Entry only permissible to those above security clearance A". Even if they had been as focused in their vigil as they were earlier in the day, they hardly could have detected the figure that had scampered up the wall, perched on the door frame, and swung through the opening undetected when a guard exited the restricted area, returning from his rounds.

The reason could not have detected the intruder because that intruder was completely unable to be seen by human eyes.

There were, of course, other sorts of sensors guarding the Reich's proprietary experimental technology, but whoever slipped in that day was extremely adept in dodging lasers and infrared beams.

The security measures of the Laboratorium, tight as they might be, were no match for one of its very own greatest inventions: a Combat Cyborg.

As the door closed, the figure of a long-haired woman in the familiar golden armor of a combat-ready Elite, carrying several blades attached to the fingers of her left hand, could be seen to materialize, seemingly out of thin air.

Due may have liked almost nothing about herself, her creation, and the existence she led, but she appreciated the optical camouflage program her Device had come preloaded with. She worked alone; it made accomplishing her tasks, like this one, so much easier.

As she looked up, the full extent of the massive supercomputer that controlled almost all aspects of day-to-day operations in the Capital World became apparent. From the central node, resembling a brain suspended in midair, thousands of tubes and wires ran away to other circular nodes, forming a massive net that could do anything from provide a flight pattern to an automated fighter in Midchildan airspace to keep records of the amounts paid by companies into banks to switch the color of the stoplights on Clanagan's streets. The tangle of fiberoptics glimmered every shade of the rainbow as she walked by; the computer almost resembled the night sky over the world she lived on.

The supercomputer was impressive; Due could not deny that. A long time ago, when she was only one or two years removed from her activation, she remembered Doctor Scaglietti showing her and Uno the structure and stating it had been the result of seventy-five years of work.

That didn't change what she thought about it, though. It was such a strange contradiction. The humans who ran the government were so concerned about power, and exerting that power over worlds and people. The common citizens supported that cause without fail. Yet they were all ultimately controlled by the decisions the network made for them.

She wondered what would happen if the computer did not exist. Would the economy collapse? Would there be war? Would people simply cease to be?

As Due moved closer to place her hand on one of the pipes that formed the computer's cooling system, she heard a voice behind her, teasing but with a hint of mockery. "What do we have here?"

The second Combat Cyborg whipped around and found herself staring at someone she hadn't planned to run into, and really didn't want to. The holographic keyboard furled in front of her, the brown hair that drooped around her shoulders, the glasses that always seemed to shine eerily...

A half-smile, barely able to be made out, formed on Quattro's face. "Let me guess, you were going to destroy that, weren't you?"

Due gulped. She didn't want anybody finding out what she was about to do, especially her one sister who seemed to be able to guess what anyone was thinking at any given time. Quattro concerned her; she may have looked inauspicious on the outside, but Due knew that she was hiding something, maybe even many things. She was an Elite, after all.

As calmly as she could, she replied, "I don't think it's any of your business what I'm doing here."

"Oh?" Quattro grinned. "Maybe it's Dreize's business, then?"

Due felt like spitting acid. Dreize was like an obedient little dog, who always did whatever the humans told her. That was why she was the de facto "leader" of the Combat Cyborgs. If someone like that found out what Due was doing here...

"Let's say that you had two choices. One was that you could have a luxurious, safe life. You could have everything you wanted. You could never be sick. But you would have to do whatever someone else told you." Due couldn't tell when Quattro had begun again. "Option two is that you would face every hardship possible. You would never have enough to eat. You would not have a home or companions. However, you would be able to make whatever decisions you like, without anyone else's control. Tell me, which one would you choose?"

"Why are you asking me this?" Due took a step back, tensing the fingers of her left hand. If worst came to worst, she would be ready.

"It's a hypothetical," Quattro responded coolly. "What are you getting so nervous about? I'm not going to fight you because of what you say."

Without hesitation, Due answered, "The second one."

Quattro was smiling noticeably now. "Do you hate being controlled?"

"I hate the weak. Those who are controlled are weak. The humans always speak about glory and bravery and strength, but they live controlled by High Council. They live controlled by this computer. They live controlled by 'destiny'. I'm sick of it."

"You can eat, think, sleep, laugh, and hurt, can't you? Yet you say 'human' like you don't consider yourself one."

"You're right, I don't. I'm nothing but a tool the humans use when they don't want to dirty their hands, and even if I was human, I wouldn't want to be a part of such a weak species." Due clenched her fists, her voice shaky with rage. "If anything happens that they don't like, they send us out to clean it up, and what thanks do we get? None! Most of the ordinary people are going to go their whole lives blissfully unaware of anything we do, or anything beyond what the government feeds them! And why am I supposed to protect sheep? Why am I the only one who's figured it out? Humans like that aren't worth the effort!"

"You have a point," Quattro smirked, striding toward the other Combat Cyborg. "I despise humans, too. This empire has grown far too complacent."

With a start, Due realized that her sister was close enough to be practically close to her, and Quattro's lips were hovering centimeters from her ear.

"I like you. I'll help you," Quattro whispered. "I'll do whatever you want."

Her breath felt hot on the back of Due's neck. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation.

"...Is that what you thought I would say?"

Due gasped, and Quattro pulled away, audibly laughing.

"Unfortunately for you," she continued, "I can't permit you to destroy the supercomputer. I have far too much hard work stored there to go to waste."

It looked like there was no other choice. If Due didn't want to be deactivated, she would have to fight here.

"However-" Quattro had extended her hand, "if you come with me, I think I can show you something better."

Due knew it wasn't a good idea. She knew not to. But for some reason, she was transfixed.

"Humans have lived without war, without fear, for so many years. They've forgotten what it means." Quattro smiled, looking straight at Due, who felt like those golden eyes were melting every last bit of her. Her heart was beating faster and faster. What did Quattro know?

Quattro scared her. That was certain. But she also transfixed the second Combat Cyborg more than words could say.

Without any hesitation, Due clasped her sister's hand. "I'll do it."

"You've made a wise decision," Quattro grinned. "I think you'll find the answers you desire very soon. Call it intuition."

 **18/8/124 PI, 13:23:46**

 **TRAINING FACILITY C, ROMMEL BASE**

 **CAPITAL CITY OF CLANAGAN, ADMINISTRATED WORLD #1, MIDCHILDA**

The sweat was dripping down Nanoha's brow and into her eyes, so much that her vision was beginning to blur. She was on one knee, panting; the hand that held the shaft of Raising Heart had long since become numb.

All around the square marked with a thick white line, trainees craned their necks to view the outcome of the battle that the girl had found herself a part of. There was tension in the air; they were sensing that the dance of mages in front of them would soon come to a climax. No matter what she did, Nanoha thought, it would be over soon. No, it should have been over several minutes ago. She was outmatched.

Her opponent came slowly toward her, the sneer on his face the only thing visible because his silvery bangs, which he normally parted to the side, had fallen over his eyes. He was enjoying it, Nanoha knew. He was just playing with her.

Dien Bliekhart was the top student in the class of cadets, and had proven his power worthy of the title. He rarely spoke to anyone, choosing instead to concentrate on training. Yet as he stood across the ring from her, Nanoha got the distinct, sickening vibe that he enjoyed seeing his opponents suffer.

She was too tired to even lift her head, but she heard his slow footsteps, and his sneer. "Is that all, Moon? Where did all that confidence before go, huh? What about that little levitating trick you did? What happened to it?"

She couldn't have done that even if she wanted to.

"I was right," he spat. "All you half-breeds are pathetic. The one in the first round didn't even put up a fight."

She breathed out and closed her eyes, waiting for the strike that would knock her out of the square, waiting for her to be finished.

The two months of cadet training had flown by, and slowly but surely Nanoha had learned how to control her Device, to cast all the spells she needed to. It was strange carrying around a weapon in her pocket, and one she could talk to at that, but she got used to it.

She remembered the look on her friends' faces the day she had shown them Raising Heart, and when they found out it had been given to her by a member of High Council of all people; Alice's jaw was about five centimeters off the ground when she saw it for the first time, and the normally unimpressed Suzuka looked a bit jealous. Even a couple of the pureblood girls who normally stayed away from her came up to her and asked to touch it. Of course, there were those who whispered angrily in the background about her "special treatment", but she didn't let it bother her.

Eventually, her friends had gotten their own Devices with the rest of the class, although Alice still vocally complained that hers wasn't "as cool" as Nanoha's nearly all the time. Steadily, they mastered the basic magical techniques, then learned the advanced ones. Training blended into training, day blended into day. By the time she knew it, two months had passed, and the cadets were preparing for their final exams. Nanoha was pouring her heart into it; she didn't want all the effort, all the nights without sleep, all the pain, to be for nothing.

So on the day before the exam, when Captain Testarossa announced a one-on-one duel tournament, the only rule being to incapacitate the opponent, she almost felt like breaking down.

Their commander had said it was to show what they had learned in the way of combat skills, and that it would have an effect on the exam. So she couldn't back out, but at the same time she wanted to fight someone else as much as she wanted to have to kill a spider that got into her room at home, even if she knew it wasn't an actual duel.

The day of the tournament, several squares had been marked on the floor of the gymnasium, and the assignments had been posted on the wall. Nanoha approached hers hesitantly, then saw she had drawn a girl she had practiced with, once. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

Then, she saw Suzuka's face had drained of color, and saw the name beside hers on the bracket: Dien Bliekhart.

 _I-isn't he the number one in this class?!_

An acidic, hateful voice sounded behind her, and Nanoha froze. "All these people and I get a Moon first round? Hmph. It's not even worth the effort."

 _Don't talk to me, you Moonface trash._

She had put two and two together.

When she turned around, the silver-haired boy who had insulted them the first day was standing there, as smug as could possibly be.

"Why, hello there, Little Miss Moon," he smirked. "It looks like we'll be opponents. Isn't that great?" It didn't take a genius to figure out that his smile was morbidly insincere.

"So, it's you," Suzuka spat.

"Oh, don't worry," Bliekhart continued. "I'll go easy on you. I could knock you out with one blow. Or I could break every single bone in your weak little body, as simply as snapping my fingers. But that wouldn't be any fun. I have something better in mind for you."

The only reply from Suzuka was a long hiss.

"I think I'll make you kneel to me. A Moon like you should never be allowed the privilege to stand in the presence of a pureblood like me. And who knows..."

Suzuka's fists were clenched, and she was trembling in rage. Nanoha was tense...she might have to hold her friend back.

Now that she thought about it, why should she? She hardly, if ever, got angry. Nanoha preferred to make friends. She preferred to be nice. She didn't like to fight.

But she was starting to feel fury welling up deep inside her. Suzuka didn't deserve that kind of treatment.

"...Maybe I'll make your friend over there do it too."

And with that, the anger that had built up came spilling out.

"Shut up!"

The pureblood boy looked a bit taken aback. He probably wasn't expecting being yelled at like that, but Nanoha didn't care anymore.

When she was still a little girl, it was a frequent occurrence that she was the target of the class bullies. But every time she was mocked, Suzuka would always shut them up, and every time she was ganged up on, Suzuka would always beat them until they cried and ran.

Now she knew what her friend had felt like all those years.

"I don't know what we've done to you, but just leave her alone!"

It felt a little bit good to finally release her emotions for once.

"Oh?" Bliekhart replied, again in a mocking tone. "You sure have spirit, speaking to me like that. I like that."

He had pressed himself almost close enough to her face for her to feel the disdain radiating off that twisted grin.

"You're in the opposite bracket, aren't you? That means you and I might meet in the finals. You know, I'm kinda hoping you make it there. So I can close that smart mouth for good."

"I'll see you in ten minutes, trash. Don't bother trying." He strode away, arrogantly as ever.

The silence of the two girls that followed was broken by Alice's timid stammer. "Are you two okay?"

It seemed that Suzuka had calmed down a bit, because she answered in a flat, still tone. "Yeah." She patted Nanoha on the shoulder. "He was just trying to get you worked up. Don't let him get to you."

If that was indeed his plan, it had worked supremely well. Nanoha's enraged outburst had surprised even herself; she wasn't one for those kinds of things. "But...but..." she blurted out, a hint of anger still remaining.

"It's okay," Suzuka smiled wryly. "I haven't seen anyone get you that mad in a long time. I might just feel like teaching him a lesson about what happens to anyone who messes with you like that."

Nanoha felt a lot better. Her best friend was tough. She would be fine. "Good luck," she muttered, trying her best to take Suzuka's advice to heart. She was about to have to duel, and as much as she didn't want to, she wanted to be humiliated or failed even less. Losing her cool in this situation didn't help her one bit.

Then one of the lieutenants demanded attention, announced two numbers, and the tournament was on. The butterflies in Nanoha's stomach made it impossible to keep track of most of them, though. She knew she needed to be tracking her possible opponents, but they were so amazing, and all she could do was worry about how not to embarrass herself.

"Number 63."

She was up. Bracing herself, she took small steps into the square where the two cadets would compete, trying to keep her knees from shaking so hard they knocked together. It felt like the gaze of every other student was flaying her from the inside out. She had no idea why they forced the duels to go one by one. Was it to force the contestants to perform under pressure? To humiliate them further?

At least the other girl across the ring from her was just as scared as her. She had a grimace on her face, presumably in an attempt to be intimidating, but Nanoha could hear her heavy breathing all the way where she stood. She took a deep breath to calm herself. If she had to do this, she might as well get it over with. The girl who was her opponent didn't deserve any more force than was absolutely necessary.

 _I should just do a Projection and try to knock her out painlessly. I can do that, right- Wait!_

Apparently, she hadn't heard the whistle blow for the start of the match, because more than a dozen wide-range exploding blasts were being fired at her. She was incredibly lucky they were missing, because she would have been out cold if the other girl's attack was even a bit more accurate. As it stood now, all she could do was cast a Protection and hunker down.

Even though her shield was up, the bombardment wasn't letting up. It seemed to have gotten more intense, actually, and Nanoha was being forced to a knee.

The other girl was screaming loudly, continually loosing wide-range bombardment spell after bombardment spell, but the Japanese girl's shield was holding up. The other cadet's spells weren't stopping, though. Just how much did she have in reserve?

 _Reserve...Wait a minute! Isn't she about to..._

The spells continually pelting Nanoha's shield had stopped, and when she stood up she saw why. The other cadet was standing with her hands on her knees, panting, dripping sweat. Just as Nanoha thought, she probably had only one attack left in her.

But how powerful an attack was it?

 _It...it doesn't matter. I've got to take my chances anyway!_ Almost as if it was responding to her, Raising Heart radiated warmth in her hands. She knew that computers couldn't really talk, but it was almost if her device was telling her, _Use me. Use my power._

Springing back, she deactivated her shield. The other girl, sensing an opening, thrust her Device forward and screamed, "CHRYSANTHEMUM BEAM!" Nine blue arcs of light shot themselves out from the tip, and Nanoha braced and rushed forward.

" _Concentric Protection_ ," announced the metallic voice of Raising Heart. Six shields of rose-pink crystal formed themselves around Nanoha in an instant.

Her opponent's final attack slammed into the barriers. From the outside, the cloud of debris that had formed made it impossible for any of the spectators to see what the outcome of the finale would be.

Then, the single shield that Nanoha had still activated slammed into the cadet, knocking her Device out of the ring and her to the floor. The other girl immediately attempted to reach to draw it back into her hand, but her arm slumped to the ground, her body too exhausted to even do that.

Nanoha Takamachi had won her first round match.

It didn't feel like a victory at all, though. As soon as she finally relaxed and the adrenaline she had built up disappeared, the effects of the battle hit Nanoha Takamachi like a fully-powered Zauberpanzer.

She immediately dropped to her knees. The ringing in her ears was unbearable, and even though she was gulping in breath after breath after breath, it felt like she was about to choke.

Someone had put a water bottle in her hand, and she immediately threw it back, drinking and drinking until her breath calmed down.

Behind her, she saw the figure of Suzuka, holding another bottle, and Alice, beaming. "Good job," her best friend said. "That was pretty impressive, but I'm not going to lose to you. I'm going to knock that asshole into another dimension!"

Within two matches, Suzuka was up, and Dien Bliekhart stood across the square from here, still sneering as disgustingly as possible.

Nanoha had a lot more confidence in her friend. After she saw how passionate Suzuka was about winning, she thought there would be no chance she wouldn't go down without a fight.

The whistle sounded, and Suzuka charged, forming a ball of crackling energy in the palm she pulled back.

Nonchalantly, almost to the point of arrogance, Bliekhart raised the palm of his right hand, on which he wore a white glove with a red, round Device blinking in the center. " _Harmonic Stabilization_ ," intoned the tinny voice.

All of a sudden, Suzuka stopped in her tracks, like she had been frozen.

What happened next was almost too fast for Nanoha to tell. She heard the voice of Bliekhart's Device say, " _Amplifier_ ," then saw a small, silvery-blue projectile flash itself out of the palm of his hand and hit the defenseless Suzuka. Her eyes immediately glassed over, and she fell to the ground.

It was over before it even began.

Nanoha was almost in shock. Her friend was a good student, but she had been defeated that easily...

As the silver-haired boy scanned the crowd of awed cadets, that smile of his still as slimy as ever, it almost seemed like he focused his gaze on Nanoha. A lump the size of an apple was forming in her throat.

Just what kind of incredible mage had picked a fight with her?

The second round came and went, and then the quarterfinals, and then the semifinals, and somehow Nanoha found herself in the final, although she didn't quite know how she made it there herself. Most of her strategy was waiting for the opponent to exhaust themselves, and then slam them out of the ring. But somehow it was working. As for Alice, she was eliminated in the quarterfinals, but not without a spirited showing. She could deal incredible amounts of damage with her graceful flames if she actually got serious, Nanoha realized.

And so Nanoha Takamachi found herself staring across the ring at the strongest student in the school. Bliekhart looked completely nonplussed; in fact, he looked almost perversely happy to be in the situation. All around them, the eliminated watched tensely, ready to see when the fighting would break out.

"Hey, Moon," Bliekhart smirked. "I didn't forget about you."

Nanoha bit her lip, although only part of it was in anger. Try as she might to feel something else, the fear from earlier was creeping back over her.

Her mind was racing. _He favors standing still and attacking from range. He doesn't appear to have any defense. That means the only option is..._

The whistle blew.

 _...to attack him from above!_

Wings of magenta energy formed from the soles of her boots, and she took flight, in a high arc above her opponent. In her hands, Raising Heart fluidly changed from its standby to attack form. Angling her Device downwards, she yelled, "Barrel Shot!" A circle formed at her feet in the air, and she saw her opponent stiffen and struggle. The stealth Bind sent out ahead had done its trick.

 _I've got the advantage! Now all I need is a stronger Bombardment spell, and it'll finish him off..._

Multiple pulses of lightning-like power emanated from the tip of her Device, angled downwards. Nonchalantly, her opponent raised his hand, and the lightning dissipated at his fingertip.

Nanoha barely had time to process before an intense vibration dragged her toward the ground. She tried to keep flying, but the pull was too strong. It was like she was being placed on a giant magnet.

Before her, Bliekhart smirked. Nanoha attempted to raise her arm to defend, but she could do nothing. He raised his finger slowly; the vibration made it hard for her to think. She was set up for his disabling spell just like Suzuka was.

Through the thrumming of her mind, something popped into her head.

 _He's using sound wave spells! I think I remember how to counter them! You..._

Bliekhart raised the Device on his hand slowly, grinning all the way.

There was no time to think anymore. _Please, let this work!_

" _Amplifier_." The small projectile shot from the top student's Device.

Raising Heart responded in kind. " _Match Pulse_."

All of a sudden, the vibration suddenly stopped, and the silvery-blue pulse hit Nanoha, only causing a small ringing in the girl's ears.

The expression on Bliekhart's face across the ring had changed. He wasn't smiling as much as before. Was he possibly concerned?

"I didn't expect you to match your defense to the wavelength I was using to attack," the silver-haired boy spat. "Maybe I need to stop fooling around."

Nanoha tensed. This was her opening. But her opponent was faster.

"Then let's see how you like multiple frequencies!" Bliekhart growled. "Sound Ring!"

A circle of energy shot from his Device, angling itself over Nanoha. Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by nothing.

It was like she was in a void. All around her were what appeared to be shimmering waterfall-like barriers; she couldn't see or hear what was going on outside. She cocked Raising Heart, spinning and turning, but her opponent was nowhere to be found.

There were running footsteps coming behind and to the right of her. She rolled in the opposite direction, preparing to unleash a spell on Bliekhart as he came into vision.

Then the concentrated beam of sound energy hit her in the midsection, lifting her up and into the air. Nanoha's breath immediately left her body; she tried to gasp but it was as if her lungs were stopped.

She hit the ground, coughing and gagging. It took all the strength she could to push herself back to a knee; all her adrenaline she had built from earlier in the match had worn off. In front of her, she could see Bliekhart advancing, that sadistic grin still clinging to his face. He was going to end it, she knew. Nanoha couldn't even raise her Device for a Protection. There was nothing she could do to fight back.

 _Do you require power?_

It was as if a voice had spoken to her clearly in her mind. Who was it?

Suddenly, another voice echoed in her head, that of her opponent. _She wasn't even a challenge._

It was as if something overcame her. She could feel strength surging into her from all sides; Nanoha didn't know when she had gotten up from her feet.

She heard a voice, one so full of rage she barely recognized it as hers. "TRIPLICATE BLASTER!"

Three beams of light shot themselves out from Raising Heart, just narrowly missing Bliekhart as he rolled out of the way, but he made no more attempt to block. Her hearing was beginning to be replaced by the drone of her heartbeat in her ears. She could see only what was in front of her.

Again, his sneer echoed in her head. _Maybe I could start by breaking every bone in her body._

She was moving even faster and faster now, like she wasn't even in control of her body anymore. Again, she fired a stream of projectiles that were just narrowly dodged, immediately launching into the air as she did so.

Bliekhart wasn't smirking anymore. He was on the ground, looking up at her with an expression of pure disbelief.

Then he grimaced and immediately aimed his Device upwards, and the sound beam slammed into the Protection Nanoha immediately activated.

Once again, his voice rang in her mind. _Don't talk to me, you Moonface trash._

At that moment, Nanoha Takamachi had given in completely to the tenuous grasp of her anger.

 _Nobody gets to speak to my friends like that!_

"EXCELION...BUSTER!"

Four pink arcs converged from each side of Raising Heart and shot downwards in a beam toward the ground. Bliekhart had barely any time to open his mouth in surprise before the Buster made contact with such force it slammed him into the wall of the gymnasium.

All of a sudden, the rage that had overcome her was suddenly gone, and Nanoha alighted slowly on the ground.

The first thing that she heard as her senses returned to her was the stunned silence that had fallen over the whole group of trainees. The second was the scream of pain that came from the mouth of Dien Bliekhart, who was curled up in a ball near where he had been forced into the gym wall by Nanoha's attack, clutching his midsection.

She stood, in shock. _What...did I do to him?_

Then the golden chains wrapped around her, and she found herself completely constricted, unable to even struggle. Her commanding officer was standing in front of her, looking nonchalant as usual, but the girl could sense the icy fury surrounding Captain Testarossa.

"Takamachi," she enunciated coldly. "It appears you need to...cool your head a little." She motioned to her lieutenants, then to the figure of the boy writhing on the ground. "Get him to the infirmary, _now_." The two immediately snapped to attention and hurried over to him.

"You didn't mean to do that, did you?" Testarossa snapped. Her face was barely inches from Nanoha's, and the girl fearfully pulled back. "N-no...I had no idea..."

The Interdictor suddenly pulled back and her voice softened. "Of course you didn't. I can tell when someone's lying. You aren't that type." All Nanoha could do was nod in agreement.

"Accidents happen," her instructor sighed, walking back toward the center of the class. "Due to the final match resulting in simultaneous incapacitation and disqualification, it has been ruled a draw." The class let out their breaths collectively. "However..." The cadets inhaled as one again. "You all pass."

Murmurs arose from the crowd. Nanoha was just as confused. _What is she saying?_

"That was your final exam. You all pass," Testarossa announced, and for the first time Nanoha could see the tiniest hint of a smile creeping across her face. "I'm glad I had the honor to train all of you. And as a reward..." she paused, "the next six hours are yours. Enjoy the day off."

The group of cadets remained silent for a second as the news sunk in, and then erupted into whoops and cheers. Nanoha felt herself leave her feet and hit the ground with a whump; a joyful Alice had tackled her and was hugging her tightly. "We did it! We did it! I'm so glad!"

A sharper voice, but softer than the bite it usually carried, sounded behind her. "Get off her, idiot. She's tired."

"Suzu-chan..."

"Congratulations." Her best friend was smiling for what seemed like the first time in ages.

"So what should we do on our day off?" Alice asked, still clinging to Nanoha.

"Oh right, I forgot about that..."

The past four months had been hard. Nanoha Takamachi had faced adversity the likes of which she had never even dreamed about. Yet somehow, she had pushed through them.

She thought about her father, and the message he had told her the day she left for Midchilda. _You have the biggest heart of them all._

She was starting to realize what he meant by that a little bit better.

"I know," Nanoha beamed. "Let's go somewhere fun."

* * *

 **16:05:13**

 **CENTRAL CLANAGAN, SECTOR A**

The large building, laid with marble reliefs on the square outside rising to gold-plated domes that shone in the afternoon sun loomed above the three girls. It looked as ancient from the outside as it probably was. The Saint's Cathedral had stood since the Unification Wars, Nanoha had heard, as a temple to the Dichotomy back when Midchilda was a newly-settled frontier world and not a major power.

"This is not exactly what I had in mind when I thought fun…" Suzuka snapped.

"It's a landmark!" Alice replied. "It's one of the things the New Capital is most known for! Don't you guys want to see it?"

"I'm okay with it," Nanoha added, trying to mediate the two as always. "This is the first time we're getting to see Midchilda anyways. You're a good guide, Alice."

The blonde girl beamed and then pointed to the door. "The entrance is that way, let's go in!" She skipped off through the large, open, wood double doors into a small, purple-carpeted foyer, with a few chairs and tables and with some holoscreens, both ones attached to the wall playing television and small portable ones displaying magazines laying about the place. A black-cloaked priest stood at another open door into a hallway at the right. There was a table set out next to him with an electronic mark reader. _Must be for donations._

The girls approached the man in black, Alice in the lead. She smiled and said hello, asking how much for an entry ticket.

"5 marks a ticket for each of you," he replied. "Now if you want the tour, that'll be 15 marks more. The next tour is in 15 minutes."

"We'll take three tickets," Alice said cheerfully.

"All right. Standard tickets for each of you, that'll be 15 marks total. Just put your electronic readers in the slot right there-" He stopped short as he saw Nanoha and Suzuka. "I'm sorry but we only allow Belkan citizens in here. I apologize for the inconvenience."

"Um, we're-" Nanoha spoke up, only to have the priest cut her off.

"Sorry, no exceptions can be made."

Suddenly, in her head Alice's voice rang out. _Get out your IDs and show them!_ Nanoha didn't know her friend had been learning direct communication magic. She certainly appeared to be doing a good job.

Wordlessly complying, the two reached into their civilian clothes' pants pockets for their Devices, and when both placed them in their hands, a holographic image of their identification card showed up. Alice did the same.

"We're trainees over at Rommel Base. Today is our last day off before we leave to be deployed. Could you quite possibly make an exception for that?"

"Oh!" the priest exclaimed. "I deeply apologize. I had no idea you were helping keep Midchilda safe. All of those who serve in the Führer's armed forces are free to enter. You don't have to pay."

Each of them thanking the priest, they took their e-mark readers and went down the hall, where it opened into a large, open sanctuary with rows of benches, stone carvings lining the arches in the walls, and stained glass casting its colorful light upon the floors. Where the benches ended a pedestal stood; the only indication that anything might have stood upon it in the past was the rough stone that rose maybe an inch from the base, which on the right side formed the shape of a foot before degrading farther back. Past the ruined statue was an ornate sarcophagus, decorated with the arms of the noble Sankt Kaiser of the Unification Wars, and lined in gold and bronze. On top of the sarcophagus, in a glass case, lay a wax effigy of a blonde woman in a white dress, her eyes closed and a string of beads clutched between her praying hands. Placed behind her on a platform, with candles and flowers, were nine ceramic figures in armor. Nanoha knew them from her history classes: they were the Star Knights, the personal guards of the Saint from the Unification Wars and the first people to be canonized in the Saint Church. And here, even though their master was long dead, they continued to watch over the savior of Belka as she slept.

There were a few people already in the sanctuary of the cathedral, bending down to touch the pedestal and prostrating themselves before the Saint's tomb. Nanoha didn't know what half of this religion was, but she did know it was not time to be disrespectful. So she and Suzuka followed Alice to the pedestal, where their Midchildan friend touched the stone and closed her eyes for a second. As she finished, she turned around and whispered to Nanoha and Suzuka, "That's all that's left of the Weeping Sigrid. It's been here since Ancient Belka and if you wish for something, it'll grant your wish."

That was silly. Obviously a statue couldn't make dreams come true. But this place was so solemn and reverent Nanoha felt no choice but to go on. Hesitantly, she placed her hand to the cold stone. _Um…_ She really didn't know what to think. _I wish for…my family to be safe. And everyone I care about to be safe too._

That was good. Smiling, she withdrew and let Suzuka go. After her friend had finished, the three, after agreeing there was nothing else to see, do, or admire, made for the exit.

Once they were out in the sunlight, by this time setting, Alice blurted out: "You know, I really am glad I met both of you."

"That came out of nowhere," Suzuka commented.

"Well, I used to be very sick as a child so I would stay inside all the time. I never got to play with anyone. It's lucky I had magic though, otherwise I don't think I ever would have made any friends at all. So…thank you both for accepting me. Thank you, honestly."

"Why'd you wait until now to bring that up?" Suzuka snarked.

"Well," Alice looked down. "Our deployment is coming soon, and we might get reassigned to different places and not see each other. And besides…I had a feeling something bad would happen. That's why I took you guys to the church. To pray for your safety."

Nanoha never knew her friend cared this much. It was surprisingly sensitive.

"We'll be fine, Alice. It's okay," she said, patting her friend on the head. "Cheer up."

The sun was almost down, so the three cadets were forced to head back for dinner. As they did, Nanoha noticed a cake shop on the right side of the street that was about to close, and suddenly she remembered something she needed to do. No, she didn't _need_ to do it, but it was the right thing to do.

"Hold on!" she exclaimed, looking in the direction of the bakery.

"Nanoha…" Suzuka grumbled. "We're going back to eat. You can wait."

"It's not that," she replied. "It's a gift."

"A gift? Wait, you don't mean…"

"Yup, an apology."

"Forget it. That asshole got what he deserved."

"Suzuka…"

"Fine. Just don't blame me when he throws it back in your face and tells you to get out."

* * *

 **16:30:03**

The infirmary was dark and smelled like alcohol. Nanoha hesitantly crept into the room, holding the box with the cookies in it; she didn't know how her apology target would react.

Dien Bliekhart was lying prone on the center bed, a slight, resigned smile on his face. "Yo."

He was far less intimidating than he was earlier, but Nanoha was still a bit frightened. Her remorse drowned it out, though.

"I didn't expect to see you here. Come to gloat? Or perhaps to pity me?"

Creeping forward, Nanoha held out the white bag in front of her. "P-please accept these as my apology!"

"Apology?" He looked at the bag for a second, then took it. "Apologizing for injuring someone you hate? I don't get it. Isn't that something you should be happy about?"

"N-no!" Nanoha blurted out, noting the surprise on Bliekhart's face. "I went too far…and let my anger control me…and now you're hurt…I hope you get better!"

"Eh, a few broken ribs isn't that big of a deal. I've had worse. Besides, it's what I get anyways."

"Well…no, I don't think anyone really deserves that…"

"Have you even been looking around during class? Everyone hates me. You know, you're the first person who came to visit me today." He chuckled slightly.

Nanoha didn't think that was surprising at all, but she kept her mouth shut.

The mess hall chimes came over the audio, and Nanoha knew it was time to report for one of her last dinners as a cadet. Before she turned toward the door, she blurted out, "I have to go now…I hope you enjoy the cookies, and get well soon!"

She dashed, but as she was halfway out the door, the pureblood boy called to her.

"Moon."

"Huh?"

"You know, you're not too bad after all."

* * *

 **21:07:43**

 **ROMMEL BASE CONTROL CENTER**

 **UNDERNEATH ROMMEL BASE**

The young officer was about to fall asleep on the job. It was late, and just like normal there was nothing out of the ordinary. He'd rather be with his girlfriend than spending the night in this bunker monitoring the computer systems that controlled Rommel Base and the airspace around it. But on this week he'd been assigned the night shift, so he had to deal with it.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. There was nothing on the radar…oh wait, there was. A single blip representing an automated fighter, heading over the base. That was odd. None were supposed to be on patrol at this time of the day. On the touchscreen radar, he selected the airplane and diverged its course to the east. That should take care of that.

But it didn't. The plane continued straight on its trajectory toward the base. The officer selected the diverge option again. It still failed. This was starting to worry him. As if responding to him, a red title flashed on the plane: "STRAFE COMMENCE".

What was going on? He hadn't ordered any strafing, and that would take it right over Rommel Base!

Besides him, he could hear his fellow radar technicians start to murmur. He knew they were close to panic. He couldn't get this plane to change course, and it would be horrible if it let loose its payload of missiles over a base where cadets were trained.

Then another fighter blip appeared on the east side of his screen. Another one in the north, another one in the west…within a minute there were more than 8 automated fighters spread out over the city of Clanagan in every direction, and all of them were set to strafe. He could hear gasps go up all around him. There could be so many civilians killed. This was bad. This was really bad…

His commanding officer burst through the door of the bunker, in response to the voices. "What's the situation?"

"Sir!" he replied. "Ten automated fighters are set to strafe over the base and city! They are unresponsive!"

"What?" the commander replied. Pushing aside the officer, he sat down at the desk and began to enter lines of computer code into the console. "It's no use!" he gasped. "Pegasus module has been compromised by an outside party! Sanvaun, get High Council on the phone and tell them to give the evacuation order! NOW!"

Another lieutenant popped his head up. "Sir, I can't get through to High Council or Rommel Base! The telecom's been hacked too!"

The commander slammed his fist against the wall, so powerful it made it shake. "Don't mind that! All of you, try something or we're all dead men!"

The lieutenant was so scared he was sure he had turned as pale as a corpse. The fighter jets were set to release their missiles over the city. He could just imagine it: the jets of fire going up, the buildings collapsing, people being burned alive or crushed under debris, the screams of agony, the screams of anguish…it was horrible. And there was no clue who was behind this, the hacking of a node of the great supercomputer in the lowest level of the Laboratorium.

At that time, another lieutenant spoke up. "Sir! The lower levels of Rommel Base have been sealed off! The army barracks have been sealed off…they can't get out to get the cadets to safety! Fighter approaching!"

The young officer just sat there, his mouth wide, as an enormous boom rattled the bunker. Even far below ground, they could feel the impact just as much as if they had been right next to it.

"Army barracks destroyed!" one radar technician yelled.

"Their target's not the city!" the commander suddenly yelled back. "Their target's the cadets! Everyone, get out of here now and get them to safety! That's an order!"

A dozen Luftwaffe radar technicians jumped to their feet as one and left their posts. They swarmed the door, pulled and pulled…

But it was locked and it would not budge.

As the soldiers threw themselves against the door, the officer stopped. He thought there was a funny smell in the room. It was getting stronger, stronger…now the sickly sweetness was nauseating. It felt like he was going to pass out. Behind him, a radar technician dropped to the ground, then another and another. The commander was looking on in shock, but the young officer's vision was so blurred that it was impossible to make out.

He fell to the floor, and as he began to black out he could make out just faintly the sounds of the doors opening, guns being fired and feet stomping on the floor.

That was the last thing he remembered until a sudden sharp pain. Then everything went black.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

Sorry about the delay...I've only recently returned writing now, so I hope you can bear with me...thanks to everyone who has kept with the story for this long! I lost the document in about March when it got deleted so I really didn't feel like writing more...but the magic of Dropbox saved it. I'll be returning to as regular of a schedule as I can get as I get ready to kick the first part of the Belka Trilogy into high gear. The training arc is already over...sorry if it dragged on. I realized I might have put a bit too much padding in there.

That's all I have for now, enjoy and I'll see you soon.

-mrcmc888

* * *

 **MAHOU SHOUJO LYRICAL NANOHA IS THE PROPERTY OF MASAKI TSUZUKI, SEVEN ARCS, NBCUNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN, KING RECORDS, A-1 PICTURES, AND ANIPLEX. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING RELATED TO THE ORIGINAL SERIES. PLEASE SUPPORT ANY AND ALL OFFICIAL RELEASES.**


	7. Chapter 6

**19/8/124 PI, 01:30:30**

 **BARRACKS A-24, DEUTSCHES REICHSHEER ROMMEL BASE**

 **CLANAGAN, ADMINISTRATED WORLD #1, MIDCHILDA**

It wasn't the blare of the evacuation alarm that woke Nanoha up. Rather, it was the shaking of the barracks that brought her to full attention out of her sleep. She woke up confused, wondering what was going on. All around her, the cadets were murmuring. Some were huddled up next to each other.

Over the din, she could pick out individual voices.

"What's going on?"

"Adelaide, I'm scared…"

"Is it a gas leak?"

"Why aren't the soldiers coming to get us?"

Nanoha was so confused. It was their last day, and tomorrow they were set to transfer to different branches, and her heart had been racing so fast with nervousness that she could barely get to sleep the night before. But now, she had no idea what was happening.

 _It's just something minor_ , she told herself. But it sure sounded like a bomb had gone off to her.

Then the next explosion hit. There was a flash, so bright that Nanoha's vision went black, and she could hear what sounded like the roof being ripped off the building. Glass was shattering, trainees were screaming, and...was that gunfire? She huddled in a ball, too scared to even move an inch.

Then she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, and a reassuring voice. "Nanoha, we're getting out of here. Don't let go of my hand."

As her vision came back to her, what had once been a state of the art dorm had been reduced to a pile of rubble. The roof had come off, as she had guessed, and a hole was punched in the wall almost as large as the entire wall itself. Girders and beams had fallen all around, beds were upturned, personal belongings scattered, and…

Underneath some of the metal what looked like deathly pale limbs peeked out, with puddles of dark red fanning them. It couldn't be. Nanoha immediately felt her stomach welling up.

Suzuka was staring straight ahead, not bothering to look at the floor. "Now."

"Wait!" Nanoha managed to blurt out. "Where's Alice?"

"No time!" Suzuka yelled. The din had grown louder, and what sounded like marching feet were approaching. All around them, cadets activated their Barrier Jackets and scrambled out of the building.

As the first of the cadets crossed the field that would lead to the officer's barracks and their safety, a flash and a rattatat came from the edges of the field and he dropped where he stood. Nanoha had to stifle crying. This could be the end for her. What would her family think? She imagined her father, somber, standing by a tombstone, her mother crying her eyes out, her older siblings ashen-faced with grief…if she didn't do something, that would happen.

Suzuka hissed. "Dammit, we can't go that way. Follow me!" She grabbed Nanoha's hand and ran, basically pulling her along. Nanoha was too shocked to even be in conscious control of her legs. It was like her body was moving on her own again, just like the day before.

At the end of the stainless silver corridor, something moved around the corner, and Suzuka stopped them, pulling out her device. _It's an enemy,_ Nanoha thought in terror. _It's an enemy._

Instead, what greeted them was the sight of a familiar blonde girl crossing around the corner. Nanoha's eyes grew wide. "Alice!" she yelled. "Are you okay?"

"Yes…I'm fine…" she panted, out of breath. Then her eyes glazed over, and as she dropped to the ground, Nanoha saw the steel bar embedded in her back.

Her eyes were still wide, but not with joy or hope anymore. The terror had overcome her. It had seeped into her bones, her very being. Nanoha Takamachi had the eyes of a fish about to be slaughtered. She couldn't scream in grief, she couldn't cry…she could do nothing but wait for her inevitable demise and be pulled along by Suzuka, who was screaming: "Run! NOW!"

Ahead of them, the night sky and the moon shone through another hole in the wall, and magic flashed and gunfire sounded. Nanoha just wanted to curl back up into a ball and just stay there.

As the two Japanese girls got closer to the exit, two shadowy figures stepped around to fill the space. The light lit them up to reveal two men, spattered and cloaked in grime, wearing the dress of farm laborers or slaves. One had a bandana tied around his head, while the other wore a wifebeater with something spattered on it. As the light caught their faces, Nanoha noticed that they were like no other person she had seen before. Their skin was dark. She had no idea people could be that color. Then she noticed the assault rifles in their hands, pointing straight at the two cadets.

"Inhumans…" Suzuka breathed out in shock. "Is this a rebellion?"

They were trapped. Nanoha was going to die here…

One of them moved his finger toward the trigger of his firearm, yelling, "This is for Daniel, you sons of-"

Nanoha closed her eyes, and heard the trill of the gunfire. When she opened them, she was still alive, standing where she had been.

A silvery-blue wall of energy waves surrounded them, and standing in front of them, still dressed in his infirmary clothes, was Dien Bliekhart. The usual smug sneer was gone. Rather, he looked as focused as he could possibly be.

"I'll hold them off!" he yelled. "You two run!"

It seemed like Nanoha had been brought back to life by seemingly facing death. She knew where she was now. She was running down the hallway in the opposite direction, but she was sure out of the corner of her eye she saw Bliekhart's body slump to the floor. That was another one. Dead, because of her. Dead, because they had defended her.

The tears were streaming from her eyes as she ran, and she couldn't stop them. _Alice…I'm so sorry…Why did it have to be you? Why couldn't it have been someone else? Why you? I'm sorry…I'm sorry…_

There was a small opening in the corner of what looked to be their ruined dining hall. Slowing down, Suzuka motioned the still-sobbing Nanoha to stop, and peered out the hole. After a few seconds, she crouched and scuttled through it, and motioned for Nanoha to follow.

When Nanoha emerged, her hands and knees touching the mud of the building's foundation, she found herself in the middle of a war zone.

Guns banged out their horrific rhythm, and bolts of energy flew all about the grass parade grounds, or what had once been parade grounds. Heaps of twisted metal surrounded the combatants, and where the barracks had once stood fires burned. In the distance, the city was alight, as Nanoha could see twisting tongues of fire leap above the skyline for seconds before settling down again. A skyscraper collapsed where a missile struck it. Bodies littered the area, both where cadet and Inhuman had fallen, their faces both twisted in the agony of their exact moment of death. Farther off, she saw flashes of golden light. The instructors were bunched up, their shields flared, fighting off a troop of the enemy. All around her were screams, cries of agony, and the dead. The dead, the dead everywhere. She must have stepped into hell, Nanoha thought. Someone must be punishing her. For what, she didn't know.

She must have been standing there shocked, because Suzuka grabbed her arm and ran with her. "Come on!" she hissed, and the two stayed low around the side of a building.

Then Nanoha saw it. From one side of the building, a cadet fell, and the farm laborer holding his still-smoking Jakobsson T5 looked her dead in the eye. Her blood ran cold.

"Pedro!" he screamed. He was going to kill her. He was lowering his gun, and she needed to fight back, she needed to raise her Barrier Jacket and defend, but she couldn't. For the second time in the day, she closed her eyes.

The report sounded, but when she opened her eyes she saw Suzuka, her arms outspread, standing in front of her. Almost immediately, she collapsed and fell into Nanoha, and her momentum took them both into a pile of debris. For now, they were safe. But Nanoha saw two red splotches begin to well up from underneath Suzuka's uniform, and almost immediately the tears started again.

Suzuka was laid across her best friend's lap, and Nanoha could hear every breath: ragged, uncertain. With her eyes wide, she felt for her best friend's pulse. It was growing fainter and fainter.

"Suzu-chan!" she cried. "Don't close your eyes! All we need to do is to get you to where the teachers are. You're going to be okay! Just keep your eyes open! Please!"

The voice came out of her friend's mouth, sounding twenty years older than it was. "Nanoha. I'm not going to make it. Leave me here and go."

"There's no way I can do that!"

With shaky hands, Suzuka reached into her bloodstained breast pocket and drew out a photograph. "Do you remember this? I was trying to keep it hidden all this time."

Nanoha stared at it. "That's the first year of grade school when we met…we were so young…" Instantly she felt the tears coming back. _No, Suzu-chan. Don't leave me. Don't leave me here…all alone…_

"Do you want to know something?" Suzuka coughed, her breathing harsher. "When I was a child I was homeless." She breathed in slowly. "I was a street urchin, and I didn't know my parents. I had no reason that I needed to live. On the day I considered throwing myself off a building, I saw this little girl, and she was so bright and happy. I wanted to be like that little girl. I had found a reason, it seemed like. So I eventually got adopted, but I resigned to myself that I would never meet her. That was until the first day of grade school came, and who to my surprise should be there but the girl I saw shining so brightly that day."

She coughed and turned her head. "Honestly, thank you. We've been through so much together. Thank you…for letting me…be your friend…"

"Suzuka!" Nanoha screamed. "Stay with me! Stay with me!"

A faint smile played across Suzuka Tsukimura's face. "Live, Nanoha." She reached out with a bloodstained hand and touched it to her best friend's face. "Live on. Even if…I couldn't…you must…" And then her eyes closed, and her hand dropped back to her side.

The sound that emerged from Nanoha Takamachi's mouth at that moment was nothing that could be described as human. It was a cry of grief, but so furious, so intense, that it seemed to shake the entire battlefield. From her form, seals broke the sky. Mana flowed like electricity, brilliant pink, lighting up the night until it was almost as bright as day. It was as if the whole battlefield had stopped to watch, in awe.

The display of lights disappeared with a whoosh. A shining crystal barrier was hanging over the entire area.

On the far edges of the battlefield, a rebel, unnerved by the sight, immediately signaled to his companions to run. They did so, and as they did they ran smack into the pink light. It was a shield of enormous size.

"Goddammit!" one cried, pounding on the barrier. "Let us out!"

"What a shame," a low female voice came from behind them. The rebels looked to see a tall figure emerging from a cloud of dust and smoke, and then their blood ran cold as they recognized the golden Barrier Jacket of an Elite.

"It looks like you're trapped in here with us," the tall, tomboyish cyborg grinned. "Sette, finish them off."

The first of the Inhumans prepared to fire, but he couldn't even get his gun lifted before a pair of boomerangs decapitated each one of the rebel soldiers in turn.

* * *

It was the most fearsome assault Alicia Testarossa had faced. Around her were what appeared to be nearly sixty Inhumans, all peppering her with gunfire. She gritted her teeth. It was easy enough to deflect and dodge bullets, but such a high-speed projectile required a large amount of mana and energy to stop, and she didn't know for how much longer she could hold on.

Nimbly deflecting a bullet hail with Bardiche, she fired three shards of mana out. Immediately, they hit the necks of some of the enemy, and they fell. Next, dodging close she ducked the weapon of one of the Inhumans and fired a magical pulse into his head from point-blank range. A shower of gore erupted, and she quickly commanded, "Bardiche, ESS to maximum."

" _Roger,_ " Bardiche replied, and the Device changed into a scythe-like form with green energy running about the shaft and side, four immensely sharp projections at the other side. Alicia made another move, drawing close and slicing across the chest with the magical blade.

She was fighting back, but it seemed like she was the only one. All around her, she could see the candidates' forms dropping to the ground. They hadn't been trained to defend against bullets yet. _Shit! If only I had a bit more time…_

She removed two of the blades and threw them, scoring two more direct hits on heads. Beside her, she heard a gasp and saw a blonde figure fall to the ground. Another was dead, beside her. "Wolfenburg! Roth!" she yelled. She had gotten so caught up in battle she didn't even notice the end of her two subordinates, and it was getting worse. She was panting now, running out of breath, and the Inhumans kept coming. _What is this all about?_ she wondered. _How did so many Inhumans sneak by security? Why do they have weapons? Why…Why is the city being bombed? Who did this?_

As if to answer her, another automated fighter roared over, and the city erupted in a plume of fire again.

As she surged ahead to the next target, she felt a sharp pain above her knee, and she dropped to the ground. Her barrier had broken and a bullet had shot her in the leg. She raised all the shields that she had in her defense, attempting to hold off the next series of shots…

But what came next stunned her. A scream, a wail of anger, rose from above the battlefield, and a stream of brilliant pink mana burned in the faint corners of her eyes. There were no more gunshots. The Inhumans had turned and were running in terror.

She turned to see one of her students cradling a body from far off, her head to the sky in anguish. "Takamachi!" she screamed. Then the sound stopped, and hanging in the air was a brilliant dome of crystal. It was a Concentric Projection, surrounding the entire battlefield. Alicia gasped, but then turned to see her student collapsed. She wanted to run, wanted to go to her trainee's side. But her leg didn't work anymore. She couldn't do anything but crawl. A trickle of blood was coming from the bullet hole, and the pain was unimaginable, but she gritted her teeth and pushed herself forward.

Around her were bodies. Her precious students lay dead, one by one as she passed them. She stifled sobs, and a deep female voice came into her head. _You're not my offspring. I never want to see you again, you worthless piece of trash._

She was worthless. She couldn't even protect a single one of her students.

As she crawled, there was a figure ahead of her. _Shit._ A rebel was still there, holding out his gun at her. She attempted to raise a barrier, but it was weak.

"You want to enslave us?" the rebel, a woman, screamed. "You want to treat us like animals? Go to hell!"

Before she could even get a burst of gunfire off, it was like the ground opened, and behind her a turquoise-haired figure popped up from the ground and snapped her neck.

In relief, Alicia recognized the golden armor the figure wore, and couldn't help but almost cry in happiness. _It's an Elite…Oh, thank the Saint, we're all saved…_ Then she remembered that she was the only one there was to be saved, and the happiness dissipated. All around the battlefield, she was the only one from the barracks moving, even as she saw an Elite explode the Inhumans in the distance, and another throw boomerangs at necks.

"Hi hi!" the Elite exclaimed. "Super-talented, attractive, and all-around great Combat Cyborg number six, Sein, at your service!"

 _Is she…striking a pose?_

"Oh, are you the Golden Flash?" she grinned, "I think I saw someone with some vital signs back there. You might want to hurry." She pointed in the direction where Nanoha Takamachi's body was slumped over, cradling a corpse.

"I can't reach her," Alicia growled, pointing at her leg.

For a second the cyborg looked puzzled, then she seemed to understand. "Don't worry. I can get you there. I'm only here to get my sisters off the battlefield if things get rough, and to evacuate anyone who needs it. Although she's the first I've found that I can evacuate…"

Alicia blinked, and when she finished she was next to the body of her trainee. She was breathing hard, her small frame wracked with convulsions. The captain put her hands on Takamachi's body, and the amount of mana ebbing out with each breath stunned her. _She's going to die…_

Alicia closed her eyes, attempting to find the fracture in the Linker Core. She swam through Takamachi's insides, her essence flowing with the mana. There it was; it was a huge crack. It was going to take all of her strength to fix it. _Come on! Come on, stay with me!_

The patching wasn't working. She didn't have the strength…

All of the sudden, she felt a new wave of magic flow in, and with her body shuddering she felt the mana flow stop and Nanoha Takamachi begin to breathe normally. She looked up. The Combat Cyborg had her hands on the girl as well.

Quickly flicking her eyes to Takamachi's body, she began, "Um, thank you…" But when she looked next to her, Sein was gone.

Immediately, another plume of fire erupted from the city, and Alicia was left there, cradling the unconscious form of her student, in the midst of a scene of calamity. Then everything became dizzy, and she, too, slumped over, passed out.

* * *

 **01:58:00**

 **ABOARD CAPITAL SHIP** ** _SANKTKRADEL_**

 **COMMAND ROOM**

Beneath him, the city of Clanagan spread out in a blaze. Jail Scaglietti stood shocked as yet another bomb exploded, and more fire spread throughout the buildings.

High Council had been called to an emergency meeting. He had been woken from bed, hurried into the control room, and from there he beheld destruction. He wasn't the only one on edge. The Führer…no…Vivio…wasn't on her throne anymore. She was pacing throughout the room, biting at her nails. It would have been cute if it wasn't so urgent.

A technician burst through the door, flanked by several of the Heer. "Sirs!" he called out. "Your orders!"

"The Elites have already been called in," Scaglietti replied. "Sound the evacuation alarm. Every single one of our resources is to go to evacuating our citizens."

Beside him, a voice growled, "No."

"No?"

It was General Gaiz. "No. Every single one of our troops are to hunt down those damn subhumans. Let the people figure out how to get out by themselves. They're smart. And if they can't figure it out…oh well."

The Hegemon grit his teeth. "Are you saying you're just going to let people die?!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Gaiz growled. "You got a problem, Doctor Demento?"

"You-" Scaglietti began.

"ENOUGH!" A stern yell arose from behind them. Vivio had stood, and was using a tone of her voice that she had never used with him before.

"Stop your bickering. Sound the evacuation alarm. Our citizens are our first priority."

Gaiz's face twisted in anger. "I've had enough of this shit show!" He stormed off, the automatic door closing as he went behind him.

Gaiz and Scaglietti had never gotten along. That was for certain. But today…it seemed to Scaglietti that the general had crossed a line that wasn't supposed to be crossed.

Almost immediately, the glass table which they sat around flickered, and revealed a transmission message. That was odd. There wasn't supposed to be any communication in or out…

It didn't matter whether he clicked the play transmission button or not, because an image of a shadowy figure appeared on the screen.

"Sirs!" a transmission coming in from Radio Communications announced. "The transmission is malicious! Do not listen to it, it's been hacked!"

The figure was cloaked in darkness. It was clearly human, but only the basic shape, and no facial features, could be made out. It sat at a desk. But something was off about this individual. With a start, Scaglietti realized that he could literally feel malice seeping through the communication.

"Hello," it began in a deep, authoritative female voice. "My name is Artemis, and I command the Legions of the Moon. As far as you know, we have only made our first appearance today. Yes, I was the one who ordered the destruction of your city. No, it will not be the last destruction."

Scaglietti gritted his teeth. So this was the face of their enemy.

"You see, we-not just I-hold a grudge. For far too long we, the ones you call the Inhumans, the ones you do not even place on the same level as animals, have been oppressed, trampled upon, driven into the ground. We have been made to be slaves on the frontier. We have been killed for questioning, for not working. We have been abused, mistreated. That will continue no longer. We seek vengeance against you; we despise everything you stand for. We will not be satisfied until you are made to feel the same pain we have felt for all these centuries. This is a declaration of war, war upon the Grossdeutsches Galaxienreich. War upon the Nazi party. We will not accept negotiation. We will not surrender.

"This will continue until one, or both of us, is completely wiped out."

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

With this, the training arc of the Belka trilogy is finished! Whew! Sorry for the pacing issues. It's just been a long time since I bothered to pick this up. The length may be shorter than you're used to as well, sorry about that. I did this in the middle of writing college essays so it's a bit short.

The enemy reveals itself! It's kind of hard to take sides when one of them is the nazis, lol. Hopefully this pushes it into further morally ambiguous territory. I hope the violence wasn't too much for those who wanted a lighter story. If it was, I apologize and I'll try to tone it down.

More coming, see you soon!  
-mrcmc888

* * *

 **MAHOU SHOUJO LYRICAL NANOHA IS THE PROPERTY OF MASAKI TSUZUKI, SEVEN ARCS, KING RECORDS, NBCUNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN, ANIPLEX, AND A-1 PICTURES. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING RELATED TO THE SERIES. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE WHENEVER POSSIBLE.**


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